Irises
by Lil' Phoenix27
Summary: Hermione enters her sixth year at Hogwarts and is shocked when Dumbledore announces that she and Draco will be working together throughout the year in order to perform duties similar to that of Head Boy and Head Girl. Let the fun begin.
1. First Day Back

Hermione exited the Hogwarts Express with a sigh of relief. There were two reasons for Hermione's strong wish to return to Hogwarts, her home, as soon as possible. One of those reasons being that Hogwarts was indeed her home. Nowhere else could she be surrounded by so many brilliant professors who cared as much for her education as she did. The amount of knowledge that she could obtain was infinite. The second reason for her speedy exit from the train went by the name of Ronald Weasley. Ron (being such a bright wizard) could hear nothing more clearly than the call of his stomach. Claiming that he was in "starvation mode", Ron snatched a bag of "chocolate frogs" out of Fred Weasley's clever hands right before boarding the train. The supposed "candies" were in fact another one of Fred and George's "inventions". Ron had been a sickly shade of green and horrendously gassy the entire train ride.

There was of course the third reason for Hermione's anxiety to return to Hogwarts. She tried not to acknowledge this reason. However, as she entered her sixth year of school, she could ignore the reality no longer. Lord Voldemort had grown increasingly more powerful as the acceptance of his "return" spread throughout the wizarding world. Harry was even more anxious than Hermione. His inability to relax greatly worried her. Ron, on the other hand, was either so daft to the situation that he felt no anxiety at all, or he was excellent at concealing his fear. At least at Hogwarts, Dumbledore was there to keep everyone (especially Harry) safe. However, this thought wasn't as comforting as it normally was to Hermione. Things were going to change this year; Hermione could feel it with her whole being.

Hermione, still in deep thought, made her way to the self-drawn carriages. The year before, Luna Lovegood had explained how the carriages were actually not self-drawn, and were in fact drawn by a magical being seen only by those who have witnessed death. Hermione believed in nothing that her eyes couldn't behold for themselves though, so she continued to refer to the carriages as self-drawn.

Hermione eventually found a suitable carriage, and waved over Ron and Harry, and offered a seat in their carriage to a displaced Neville Longbottom as well. Before the carriage began its journey to the magical castle, Hermione saw Draco Malfoy and his group of idiots causing a commotion nearby. Crabbe was insistently questioning Luna about her sanity as Draco and Goyle snickered nearby. Hermione tapped Harry and pointed to Draco and his gang. Before Harry could properly react though, Neville had leaped out of the carriage and took off in the direction of Luna.

"B-b-back of Malfoy!" Neville said quite bravely for one as cautious as he.

Malfoy took one look at Neville and put on his world-famous smirk. Neville began shaking slightly at the sight of the smirk, but he stood his ground. Malfoy stared Neville down for a few moments longer, than snapped at Crabbe and Goyle as a signal for their exit from the scene. Neville put his arm around Luna comfortingly (although she seemed completely unfazed by what had just occurred) and murmured encouraging words such as "don't let them get to you" and "my Gran calls me loony and clumsy all the time! It's a show of affection nowadays, ya kno?" Neville made room for Luna in their carriage, and the group of five finally began the journey to the castle- their safe haven.

Once in the Great Hall, Hermione realized just how hungry she was. She eagerly chomped through two plates of chicken, peas, and mashed potatoes. She began to lose her appetite though as she realized that the topic of discussion for the Gryffindor table was the death of Sirius Black. She looked across the table to see that Harry was as stiff as stone with a blank and cold expression spread across his face. Before Hermione could say anything to him though, Dumbledore stood to speak.

The revered grand wizard gave his normal welcoming speech, and laid down the common restrictions of the castle. Where he would normally end his speech though, he continued by saying that he had two important announcements.

"In light of our previous Defense Against the Dark Arts professor's failure to return to Hogwarts this year," Hermione could of sworn she saw the light of laughter twinkle in his eyes as he said that, "we have appointed a new teacher to take her place. Professor Severus Snape is now the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor."

Several gasps of horror were heard throughout the Great Hall from every table except for Slytherin's. Many Slytherins gave each other high fives and let out exuberant exclaims. Looking over at her friends, Hermione could have sworn that Ron was about to be sick all over again. And just when she thought that Harry could not have become any tenser, he did. Hermione almost put her head down on the table in defeat at the thought of the hell this year was going to be with Snape as the new DADA teacher.

"The second announcement," Dumbledore nearly roared in order to rise over the loud laments of his students, "is that in light of the turmoil of the current events in our world," he solemnly stated, referring to Voldemort's powerful return, "we will have a new addition to our school's traditions. Instead just having Head Boy, Head Girl, and prefects, we will have Neck Girl and Neck Boy. These two students are selected from the sixth year class, and are the top male and female of their class. They will dorm with the Head Boy and Head Girl, and will have similar duties and responsibilities."

The Great Hall fell silent as all the students and faculty stared at Dumbledore in mixed awe and fear. Some were amazed that Dumbledore was able to say the ridiculous names of the new "additions to the tradition" without cracking a smile or feeling embarrassed. Others feared that Dumbledore had finally lost the last bit of sanity that he had so dearly held onto.

"So," Dumbledore continued (either oblivious to the awkward silence, or completely ignoring it), "the new Neck Girl," several snickers and hushing noises were heard throughout the hall, "is Hermione Granger."

Although everyone in the Great Hall knew that Hermione would be selected as the new Neck Girl, they still erupted into loud applause and cheer. Hermione was directed by Dumbledore to make her way to the front of the Great Hall, directly underneath his seat. Hermione shyly made her way to the front and managed not to trip or bump anyone in the process.

"The new Neck Boy shall be Draco Malfoy," Dumbledore announced soon after Hermione arrived to the front.

Slytherin erupted into applause as the rest of the hall sat in shock. Draco Malfoy smugly made his way to the front. He even dared to stand directly in front of Hermione with that sly smirk on his face. Hermione though was far too shocked to react to his rude manners. She closed her eyes and hung her head slightly in defeat. Just when she thought her day couldn't get any worse…


	2. Taking It In

**Chapter Two**

The passageway was cold and dim as Hermione and Draco followed Professor McGonagall to Dumbledore's office. Hermione, hardly noticing her freezing digits, was currently preoccupied by the many pressing thoughts swimming about her head. How was she going to be able to talk to Harry privately, without teachers and students buzzing around, if she was going to be in a separate common room for the remainder of the year? Would the duties of a Neck Girl greatly impact her study habits? Did she pack enough extra socks to keep her warm in case her dorm was chilly? Her most pressing thought though was about how she was going to survive a full year working with Draco Malfoy.

After Draco had made his way to the front of the Great Hall earlier this evening, Dumbledore had declared dinner over and instructed all students to retire in their common rooms for the night. Hermione stood debating whether she should follow the rest of the Gryffindors to their common room, or remain until Dumbledore gave her further instructions as to how to find her new dormitory.

The decision was made for her when Dumbledore said, "The two of you may go to your old common rooms for the time being. In an hour's time, both of you are to report back here and follow Professor McGonagall's instructions."

Hermione nodded in acknowledgment of what the headmaster had said, and then practically sprinted out of the Great Hall. Soon after running out of breath, she arrived in front of the portrait of the Fat Lady. Hermione breathed out the password (still trying to catch her breath), and stepped into the Gryffindor common room. She was shocked when twenty eager Gryffindors ran up to her and began talking excitedly.

" Hermione! What are you doing here? I thought you dorm somewhere else now?"

"Oh, congratulations Hermione! This must be such an honor."

"We all knew Dumbledore was gonna choose you, Granger. Way to go!"

"Hey, since you have some power now, can you help a girl out by not reporting me when I sneak out to see my boyfriend in Ravenclaw? You'll do that for a friend, right 'Mione?"

Hermione stood speechless for a few moments, and began stuttering when she attempted to answer everyone. Her stuttering ceased as Ron and Harry came on either side of her and steered her away from the crowd.

"Oi, back off ya crowd of vultures!" Ron called over his shoulder.

The three friends found a deserted corner in the common room, and gave death glares to anyone who dared to approach them. Ron sighed in relief and Harry leaned against the wall closing his eyes. Hermione stared at her two best friends and resisted the urge to cry. She couldn't imagine a full year at Hogwarts without ending every long day by relaxing with them in the common room. They were what kept her sane throughout the school year. She wouldn't be able to handle the pressure without them.

Ron noticed Hermione's scrunched up face and nearly shouted, "Woah! No tears! I've had enough of them with Ginny crying over Seamus this summer! I'll have none of 'em from you, 'Mione!"

Harry opened his eyes and shot Ron a look that translated into, 'why are you such a moron?'

Harry pushed himself away from the wall, and hugged Hermione securely. As his arms wrapped around her, Hermione realized that she didn't need to doubt the strength of their friendship. If she needed them, they would find a way to be there for her.

So now, back in the corridor with Malfoy and McGonagall, without Ron and Harry to steer her away from her loud thoughts, Hermione tried to clear her mind on her own. Draco looked at her strangely once she began practicing breathing exercises she had once learned in a yoga class in the Muggle world. She regretfully ceased her exercises once they reached the entrance to Dumbledore's office. She was afraid she would worry the old wizard with her extremely heavy breathing. Hermione had never been to his office before, but she recalled the description Harry had given her when he had been in the office in his second year.

"Lemon drops," Professor McGonagall said.

Hermione watched as the statue moved to reveal the path to Dumbledore's office. The stairwell was so dark that Hermione continuously stumbled on her way up. Once, she nearly fell on her face until she caught hold of Malfoy's arm. She quickly steadied herself and gasped as Malfoy yanked his arm out of her hold.

"Hands of Mudblood. I don't want your germs," he hissed vehemently.

Professor McGonagall had not heard him, and continued to briskly walk up the stairs. Hermione bit her bottom lip to refrain from hexing the stupid ferret boy. However, the maliciousness of his words hit her hard. Her eyes stung and her heart pounded in her chest. She began the breathing exercises once again to calm herself.

Upon finally reaching the top of the stairwell, Hermione sneezed.

"Oh good, and have arrived. Thank you, Minerva. Bless you . I hope you packed some extra socks for I have heard that the Head Girl dormitory is quite chilly at nighttime. We wouldn't want the new Neck Girl to catch a cold so soon after being appointed. I welcome you all to my office. Please have a seat."

Dumbledore spent the next 20 minutes going over the duties of the Neck Girl and Neck Boy, and stated their privileges. Hermione concluded that Neck Girls and Neck Boys basically existed to assist Head Boys and Head Girls with their duties in order to maintain control over their peers. Some of their privileges included an extended curfew, free admission to Quidditch matches, and allowance into the castle's kitchen (as long as the house elves didn't say otherwise). Dumbledore then thanked them, wished them luck, and gave them directions to their new dormitory.

Malfoy immediately left the office after being dismissed, leaving Hermione to find her own way to the dormitory. She walked throughout the castle's corridors until she found the portrait that led into her dorm's common room. Hermione stopped in front of the portrait and took a moment to just breathe. She shut her eyes and took a deep breath. She recalled inspirational quotes from the myriad of books she had read, and recited several of them mentally.

When she finally opened her eyes, they revealed a moving portrait of a field of irises. Hermione watched as the irises swayed in the slight breeze of a sunny spring afternoon. She became worried as the sky in the picture darkened and a sheet of rain poured onto the weak flowers. Hermione gasped and reached out towards the portrait. She wasn't sure what caused her to do this. Maybe the thought of something so innocent and beautiful being destroyed caused her to take action. That was probably it. The idea sounded noble enough.

Hermione removed her hand from the portrait, took one more deep breath, and stepped into her new life.


	3. Realizations

**Chapter Three**

Hermione's eyes slowly flickered open to reveal the gold and crimson bed curtains of her four poster bed. She lay staring at the curtains while trying to figure out why she had such a terribly pounding headache. Oh, she remembered now. She had a terrible dream the night before about accepting the ridiculous title of "Neck Girl", and being forced to dorm with that moronic Malfoy. Well it was a wonderfully good thing that it was just a dream.

Hermione sat up in bed and stretched her arms, making cracking and popping noises in the process. It was then that Hermione realized that something wasn't right. Every morning, for the past six years at Hogwarts, Hermione would perform this same morning ritual of stretching out her arms. It was also part of the morning ritual for Hermione to "awaken her eardrums" by listening to Lavender Brown screech about how disgusting the noises Hermione made were.

This morning was different. Lavender Brown wasn't in the four poster bed next to Hermione's. Nobody else was in Hermione's room. 'Where is everyone! Why am I here alone!' Hermione thought frantically. It was then that she made her final and most important realization. Hermione Granger had indeed accepted the ridiculous title of "Neck Girl", and was in fact being forced to dorm with a moronic Slytherin named Draco Malfoy. Well it was a horrendously horrible thing that it wasn't just a dream.

Hermione grabbed a pillow, flopped down onto the bed, and put the pillow over her face. Then she screamed. She hadn't screamed like this since her third year when she had held onto a flailing Womping Willow for dear life. She removed the pillow and sat up again.

"Okay Hermione Granger, pull yourself together. This is an honor. Well, not the part about Malfoy; that's more of a torturous punishment that will just try my patience. I will not let this bring me down. I have complete control of the situation," Hermione stated quite firmly to herself.

She hopped out of bed, quickly got dressed, and went down into the common room. It was so quiet that it unnerved Hermione. When she had gotten into the common room the night before, she had headed straight to her bedroom. The Head Boy and Head Girl had already gone into their rooms for the night, so she hadn't spoken to them at all.

Hermione regretted the fact that she had yet to speak to the either of the school's top students. She would be able to learn so much from them! She couldn't believe how amazing it was that she was given the opportunity to share a dormitory with them. She sighed contently. This was perhaps one of the very few good points of her situation.

Hermione was snapped out of her musings by the sound of approaching footsteps. She turned excitedly, hoping to finally meet the Head Boy or Head Girl, but was disappointed to see a seemingly annoyed Malfoy before her. Her eyes rested on him as he slowly made his way to the dormitory exit. She _still_ couldn't wrap her mind around the idea of being stuck with him all year.

Her thoughts were cut short once again when Malfoy abruptly turned towards her and cruelly asked, "Do you know how rude it is to stare? I suppose all of you filthy Mudbloods stand in awe of us Purebloods. It can't be helped."

Hermione felt a rush of heat rush up to her face as Malfoy smugly folded his arms in front of his chest. She could've sworn she saw red flash before her eyes. She had had enough of this. If he didn't quit with his prejudiced remarks soon, smug little Malfoy was going to experience an "accident". Perhaps she would "accidently" mess up a potions assignment which would dye his hair neon green. She could cause it to explode when they were "coincidentally" in the common room together. But no, that was too childish, and this matter was very serious. She settled then for the idea of spiking Lavender Brown's and Pansy Parkinson's pumpkin juice with a powerful love potion that would set them after Malfoy. Yes, that would do nicely.

"Oh, it seems that 'know-it-all Granger' has finally run out of things to say! Took you long enough," Draco continued snidely.

"Don't you worry your little pea brain Malfoy, I never run out of things to say. I 'know it all' remember? I was simply admiring your incredible talent," she responded interestingly.

"What talent are you referring to Granger? I have many talents you know," Malfoy conceitedly replied. He stood up straighter with more confidence as he said this.

"I was referring to your greatest talent of course. I mean, it must have been so difficult to obtain the level of idiocy, ignorance, and stupidity that you have. I can only stand in awe."

Malfoy's face immediately flushed red and he opened his mouth to say something back. However, just at that moment, in walked the Head Boy of Hogwarts.

"Aha! I've finally got you two together at the same time!" The Head Boy was quite short and pudgy, but was pretty handsome as well. His black hair wasn't as long as Harry's, but it was just as messy. His blue eyes shone with laughter as he beamed at the two infuriated sixth years, obviously oblivious to the tension between them.

"My name's Thomas McNally and I'm obviously Head Boy. Welcome to your new dormitory! If's there's anything you need, be sure to let Alicia and I know. Oh, Alicia Jackson is Head Girl if you didn't already know. You'll be running into her soon. If it's not too much of a bother, please meet us here in the common room right after dinner tonight. Okay, well, I'm going to head off to breakfast. Have a great day you two!" and out the door went the Head Boy.

"I was definitely expecting more out of our first encounter with 'Head Boy'. Isn't he supposed to be smart? He seems to be a buffoon," Malfoy stated rudely after Thomas left. He looked to Hermione as if expecting her support. She only looked at him incredulously.

"Wow. You are so unbearably horrid. Can you, at the very least, be polite to anyone you come in contact with? I mean, I understand why you're so horrid to me, but why everyone else? It's a pity," she said quietly.

Malfoy stared at her for a few minutes, his expression unreadable, until he answered, "Because I'm better than everyone else, Granger. Haven't I already told you?" He began to walk towards the exit portal. Before he stepped out though, he turned back around and said, "By the way, don't think that I care or am really listening when you talk to me. Learn your place Mudblood."

With that, the wizarding world's greatest snob left Hermione to stand in awe. She had never met a sadder person before in her life.


	4. Everywhere

**Chapter Four**

Hermione had momentarily felt pity for Malfoy earlier that morning. That was until she reminded herself of his incurable idiocy and cruelty. The stupid git was prejudiced, pompous and annoying. Most importantly though was the fact that he had sided with Voldemort. There were even rumors that he had already taken the Dark Mark.

Hermione's breath caught in her throat at the thought of the Dark Mark and all that it symbolized. One who took that mark openly vowed to serve evil for the rest their life. They vowed to cause misery and destruction to anyone who stood in the way of the Dark Lord's desires. They bound themselves to the embodiment of pure evil.

"Such a terrible thing," Hermione breathed aloud.

After a few more seconds of silent reflection, Hermione jumped with a start when she realized that she was going to miss all of breakfast if she didn't get moving. The hungry girl raced through the hallways, Potions book in tow, and made it to the Great Hall in record time.

"Morning, 'Mione! How was your first day sleeping away from home?" Ginny asked brightly, with serious concern in her eyes.

"Not so great, but I'll be fine. I can handle this," Hermione answered confidently. However, she hoped that the obvious worry and distress in her eyes would convey themselves to Ginny. Hermione really needed some time alone with her best girl friend.

"Well, you let me know if that git, Malfoy, gives you any problems, Hermione. Me and Harry will just turn him into a ferret to remind him of the good old days," Ron said, attempting to sound threatening.

Hermione laughed out loud at the sight of a "threatening" Ron with cheeks totally stuffed with food. It had been such a long time since she had laughed with her friends. It felt good.

After breakfast, the sixth year Gryffindors made their way to Potions. Hermione groaned when she realized that they had Potions with the Slytherins this year. Wonderful, all the more time to spend with the ray of sunshine itself: Malfoy.

Once in the dungeons, Hermione took a seat away from Ron and Harry since they refused to sit anywhere near the front of the classroom. A pretty Slytherin girl with dark hair, eyes, and skin sat in the seat next to Hermione's. Hermione figured that this girl wasn't a typical Slytherin snob when they both comfortably exchanged smiles. They both then looked to the front as their new professor began to speak.

"Welcome to your sixth year of Potions. My name is Horace Slughorn and I am your new Potions master. I will now assign you to your new Potions partner. You will have the same Potions partner for the remainder of the year. No exceptions. First on the list are Lavender Brown and Blaise Zabini. Next are Padma Patil and Gregory Goyle. Then there's Dean Thomas and Pansy Parkinson…"

Hermione registered with faint interest that the professor wasn't calling out the partners' names in alphabetical order. She found this slightly odd but didn't stay on the thought for long. Her mind then slowly realized that each partnership consisted of one Gryffindor and one Slytherin. '_That's going to be awful for several Gryffindors, especially Padma. Goyle is so stupid that he doesn't know how to properly apply deodorant…_' Hermione thought to herself.

Then it hit her: Gyffindors and Slytherins; Hermione and Malfoy; Oh Merlin.

Hermione's breathing sped up as she shut her eyes and prayed that she be partnered with anyone but Malfoy. She tried to remember if Malfoy's name had been called already….it hadn't. Crap. Okay, okay, it would be way too coincidental if they were to be partnered up. Right? Right. Her breathing slowed a bit until she heard the professor call her name.

"And there's Hermione Granger and Draco Malfoy. I thought it would be interesting to see what the sixth year's brightest students could produce together. Next we have…"

Hermione felt as if the world had just collapsed right out from under her. Then she felt numb. She felt as if she were floating. Floating somewhere far away from a neanderthal named Draco Malfoy. She was actually starting to feel pretty peaceful until Professor Slughorn interrupted her thoughts yet again.

", if you would kindly move to the seat next to your partner's, that would be very beneficial to the class."

Hermione stared dumbly at the professor until she registered what he had said. She slowly picked up her belongings, and looked around the room for ferret boy. She spotted him sitting near the back of the room with a sour look on his face. She numbly made her way to him and sat down with a thump. She dropped her belonging onto the table, and let her head fall into her hands.

Was it too late to go to a Muggle high school?

Dinner consisted of her friends trying to get a response from Hermione as she slowly chewed through her food. Had Hogwarts' food always tasted this bland? She decided that as soon as dinner ended she would go to her dorm to take a nice hot bath and go straight to bed. Wait, she couldn't do that. Thomas had asked to meet her and Draco in the common room after dinner.

"CRAP! HE'S EVERYWHERE!" Hermione exclaimed slamming her fork onto her table. Half of the Gryffindors turned to look at the commotion, and half avoided the commotion out of fear. Hermione may kill them if she caught them staring at her.

Hermione took a deep breath while staring straight at the wall behind Ron's head before standing up. She ignored her friends' questions as she gathered her books, muttered a goodbye to her friends, and stomped out of the Great Hall. Once away from the curious stares of her peers, Hermione ran to her dorm.

She threw her books on the ground (not a common act of Hermione Granger) and sank into the couch in front of the fireplace. Her face flushed red with anger and frustration when she thought about how terrible yesterday and today had been. The sad part was that they wouldn't have been bad at all if it weren't for Malfoy. Why was he suddenly such a large part of her life? Why was he such an arsehole?

"Why me?" she cried allowed.

"Because you're the brightest witch of your age," a kind voice said behind her.

Hermione turned around to see a beautiful Latin girl, with dark hair and eyes, smiling at her. She made her way to where Hermione was sitting and flopped down next to her.

"I saw you leave the Great Hall just now in a hurry. You seemed upset. My name is Rosa Riviera from Hufflepuff. I'm Head Girl. It's a pleasure to meet you Hermione," Rosa said, smiling warmly at Hermione.

"Hi, it's nice to meet you too," Hermione responded awkwardly.

"I followed you here because I had the feeling that you wanted some time to be alone. So, I figured that I would tell you now what Thomas and I were going to tell Draco and you later. This way you can go to bed tonight without having to see Draco first," she gave Hermione a knowing look as she said this.

"First of all," Rosa continued, "welcome to our dormitory. Feel free to let us know if there's anything you need. Now the main reason why we needed to talk to you and Draco is because of the Halloween Ball. Dumbledore has put all four of us in charge of setting it up. I and Thom will handle getting material and food together. We'll also handle hiring the DJ and finding teachers to chaperone. You and Draco are in charge of coming up with a music playlist, handling advertising, and decorations. We need all of this done by October 30th. You don't have to worry too much about it now, but we just wanted to give you a heads up. So now that that's out of the way, I'll leave you to your alone time," Rosa finished. She patted Hermione's knee, and then exited the dormitory.

Hermione sat in silence for about ten minutes as if Rosa was never there. She decided then and there that about how to handle Malfoy. She would not give Malfoy so much power over her as to let him make her sixth year a living Hell. She would just have to endure the excessive amount of quality time she would be spending with him and move on with her life.

She could handle this. She was Hermione Granger, and she could handle anything. Or so she thought.


	5. An Addition to the Playlist

**A/N: **This is my first fanfiction, and I totally forgot about author notes!

Thank you potterluvr11 and DracoAndMeliny for being the first two people to review my story

Thanks crazychick99, kulacute, potterluvr11, and ReadIsAWESOME for favoriting my story

And thank you DracoAndMeliny, FireTaiga, Le soleil brille pas pour toi, potterluvr11, and x-hermalfoy for adding my story to your story alerts

Thank you so very much! It made my day to see that more than one person responded to my story XD

Disclaimer: All characters and things belonging to the Harry Potter Universe belong to J.. I claim no rights to them. The song listed later in this chapter is a parody of the song "Love the Way You Lie" by Eminem featuring Rihanna. All rights to the song belong to them.

Reviews and constructive critiscm are always welcome! Thank you for reading!

Three weeks quickly passed by, and the end of September drew near. Hermione hurled herself into her school work and Neck Girl duties the day after she'd made up her mind about handling Malfoy. Things had been running fairly smoothly between the Gryffindor princess and Slytherin prince lately. Her tactics were proving to be successful.

Hermione refused to acknowledge anything Malfoy had to say unless it regarded Potions or the Halloween Ball. Initially, Malfoy had bombarded her daily with snide remarks. However, he soon grew bored when she never reacted to anything he said. That's when they slowly began to slip into a semi-peaceful relationship. They only spoke to each other if it was necessary.

Although Hermione enjoyed not hearing Malfoy's loud mouth as often as she used to, there was still something that bothered her. Malfoy refused to help with anything relating to the Halloween Ball. While Thomas and Rosa where present, he would pretend to assist Hermione with the work. Once the Head Boy and Girl left though, Malfoy would hastily leave the common room, leaving all of the work to Hermione.

With so many advance classes, S.P.E.W.T, and Neck Girl duties, Hermione was missing meals to spend time in the library or in her room. Sleep was now an unaffordable luxury. Spending time with her friends (apart from at meal times) was something she could only dream of now. Her first month back at Hogwarts was more difficult than she had expected.

"Hermione, are you okay? You've barely touched your food?"

Hermione was snapped out of her thoughts by Harry's concerned voice. She had previously been contemplating decoration ideas for the Halloween Ball. It was either floating normal pumpkins, or floating jack-o-lanterns. Floating jack-o-lanterns won. That was when Harry had cut in.

"I'm completely fine, Harry. A girl's got to watch her weight," Hermione said convincingly with a wink. Ron however looked unconvinced.

"Since when have you cared about your weight, 'Mione?" he asked her accusingly.

Hermione stared at the red head with a mixture of confusion and disbelief. What he said had to be the dumbest and most insensitive thing a guy could say to a girl. '_After all those years of defending his intelligence…_' Hermione thought ruefully.

"Well I think she's watching her weight for a reason," Ginny cut in excitedly.

Hermione stared at Ginny curiously. Ginny and Hermione had had a long talk about Hermione's worries and anxieties many weeks earlier. Several sniffles, hugs, and Kleenexes later, Hermione had been comforted by the little red head. Ginny had promised her that if Harry and Ron inquired as to Hermione seeming "different as of late", she would find an excuse to cover for her. The last thing Hermione wanted was Harry and Ron worrying over her, especially when it involved Malfoy. This was why she was curious as to what excuse Ginny would come up with.

"I think this is also the same reason why Hermione's been dazing off lately, too. I think she's in love with a certain red head," Ginny finished with a proud grin.

Hermione's jaw dropped and her cheeks turned bright red. She saw out of the corner of her eye that Ron had done the same. Some of the Gryffindor boys gave wolf calls as many Gryffindor girls squealed and giggled.

Hermione slowly turned her head to Ginny and gave her a look that clearly said, 'prepare to be maimed, little red head.'

"Oi! Did ya hear that George? Hermione's in love with me! It's about time, if I do say so myself," Fred Weasley called to his brother. He then shot Hermione a wink. Hermione, along with the rest of the Gryffindor table, burst into laughter.

Maybe Ginny's excuse wasn't such a bad excuse after all.

After her eventful dinner, Hermione rushed to the library. She spent two hours working through her heavy load of homework. She finished her study session by studying for the History of Magic test she had next week. She was very interested in the story of Eleanor and Theodore Roosevelt. They were very influential leaders of a Muggle country who hid their magical abilities exceptionally well.

Hermione shut her textbook when she heard the library's magical clock call out the time. Merlin's beard! It was already ten o' clock and she hadn't even started on her work for the ball. She gathered her books and darted out of the library and to her dorm. When she stepped into the common room, a sight she didn't expect greeted her.

Hunched over a pile of paperwork for the ball was none other than Draco Malfoy. He seemed to be concentrating very hard on whatever work he was doing. Hermione's breath caught in her throat as tears of happiness flooded her eyes. And then she saw Rosa and Thomas also in the common room. He was faking. Malfoy was pretending to do work in order to trick Rosa and Thom.

Her breath left her throat with a puff, and she could practically feel the tears evaporate from her eyes. She sullenly dragged herself over to her dorm mates.

"Hey, Hermione! I'm glad we got to see you before we headed up to bed. You and Draco are doing a spectacular job with your work for the Halloween Ball. Keep up the good work!" Thom stated happily. He and Rosa then got up from their couches and headed to their separate rooms. That just left Malfoy and Hermione alone.

"So, are actually going to help me with the some of the work this time?" Hermione asked enthusiastically. Her peppy grin soon slid off her face at the sight of Malfoy's emotionless expression. Without a word, he stood up and walked to his room.

"You stupid git!" Hermione cried angrily after his retreating figure. He didn't even acknowledge her exclaim.

Hermione sunk unhappily unto the couch and set about her work for the night. She had added about 130 more songs to the dance's playlist when the words began to blur on the page. She didn't want to stop just yet though. There was still too much work to be done.

Hermione decided to add the song "Love the Way You Curse" by Skittles featuring Leanna to the playlist. She tiredly hummed the song to herself as she slowly lowered her head onto the pillow beside her. She made it to the second verse before everything faded black.

Hermione's eyes flickered open to reveal a pile of papers before her. The work for the ball! She had fallen asleep while working on it! She frantically leaned forward to check how much work she had gotten done the night before.

She felt something slide down her arm as she moved from her previous position. She looked down to see a blanket pooled at her feet. Had she fallen asleep with that around her last night? No, she certainly hadn't. So someone else covered her with it after she had fallen asleep?

"Must've been Thom or Rosa," Hermione said aloud.

She pulled the playlist from the pile of papers and scanned it to count how many songs she had added. 152. That couldn't be right. The count had been 130 until she added that Skittles song.

Realization and hope dawned on Hermione. Maybe Malfoy had come to put the blanket around her, and then added to the playlist. Hermione could practically here the hallelujah choir singing behind her as she thought this.

"Good Morning! Glad to see you awake. Rosa said that she found you asleep, surrounded by a mountain of work. Remember to get your rest Granger. All right, I'll see you later," and with that, Thom was gone. He and Rosa never seemed to stay around for very long.

So Malfoy hadn't put the blanket around her. Rosa had. Or at least, she probably had; which meant that she'd probably added to the playlist as well. Hermione felt foolish for thinking that Malfoy would stoop so low as to put a blanket around a "filthy mudblood".

When Hermione saw Rosa later that day, she ran to catch up to her.

"Thanks so much for all you did last night, Rosa," Hermione said kindly.

"Oh, don't worry about it 'Mione," Rosa said with her always-present smile.

Hermione glumly stared after Rosa as the Hufflepuff walked away into the astronomy tower. That exchange had put to rest any hope Hermione had of Malfoy being the one who had added to the playlist the night before.


	6. Boiling Over

**A/N: **I can't believe that I haven't uploaded for about 2 months! Thank you so much to all the readers who are still sticking around to read my story! Reviews are always nice

Hermione sat in Potions anxiously tapping her foot as she waited for the class to end. Professor Slughorn just assigned the class to concoct a boil-removing potion with their partners. Rumor had it that Professor Slughorn refused to invite Pansy Parkinson to his "Slug Club" dinner parties, so the indignant Slytherin decided to get revenge by "playfully" cursing the professor with boils. Ever since, the poor teacher couldn't seem to sit very comfortably.

Hermione could hardly concentrate on her school work lately because of the immense stress she was feeling. The Halloween Ball was in exactly one week and she was nowhere near done all the work she needed to get done. Wait, no, correction: She was nowhere near done all the work she AND DRACO needed to get done. The pompous prat hadn't raised a finger to help her with any of their duties. In a quick burst of anger she slammed her fist against the table, inadvertently knocking over a vile of bee saliva.

"Merlin, Granger! Can you do anything right! It must be those muggle genes in you. I guess they prevent your brain from functioning correctly. Or maybe you can't think correctly with all that frizzy hair blocking your ears and eyes. Which is it, muggle-born?" Draco expectantly looked at Hermione with a wide smirk.

The irritated and flustered Gryffindor snapped her head in the direction of the source of all her problems and said, "Well I suppose it's the frizzy hair. It can't be the _muggle_ genes, since your _pureblood_ genes obviously aren't doing much to improve _your_ intelligence or ability to think straight."

Hermione would eternally cherish the priceless, shocked expression of Draco Malfoy. She thought the expression worked quite well with his features. He resembled a deer caught in headlights. But of course, since headlights were a "muggle contraption", Malfoy wouldn't quite understand the reference if she ever used it as an insult. Also, that image didn't quite fully capture the visual of his expression. She would have to think of a better insult to take its place…

"Ms Granger and ! I am extremely disappointed in the two of you! I would have never expected this kind of behavior from my two top students: antagonizing each other at such a loud volume. In the middle of class! And students from my dinner party club nonetheless…such a disgrace. You two are to report to my room for detention immediately after dinner," Professor Slughorn declared, awfully red in the face.

"But Professor, Granger and I have to complete our preparations for the Halloween Ball!" Malfoy exclaimed.

Hermione stared at the Slytherin before her, wondering how a person could lie and deceive as easily and constantly as breathing. After taking a deep breath and contenting herself with the truth that she would never understand Malfoy, she turned to the professor and said, "Sir, it's true. We only have a week until the Ball. And although we," Hermione shot Malfoy a quick glance of annoyance, " have been working very hard on it, there's still plenty of work to be done," Hermione smiled weakly and tried to look as sweet as possible.

Slughorn seemed just about to give in when he eyed Hermione wearily, took a deep breath, and said, "Be that as it may, , you both have disrupted my class and even broken some of the classroom's materials. You are to report here for detention tonight. Am I clear?"

Hermione's heart sank as she mumbled, "Yes, sir."

She was in for another long night.

Hermione dragged her feet down the hallway as she made her way to Professor Slughorn's room for detention. She'd barely touched her food at dinner so her stomach was killing her. Although she regretted not eating now, during dinner her stomach was bubbling from stress and exhaustion. Eating didn't seem so appealing at the time.

When she got to the classroom, she saw Malfoy sitting at his normal seat working on a potion diligently. She looked around the classroom for Slughorn, and was alarmed when she couldn't find him. What could possibly be worse than spending more time with Malfoy? Oh yes, that would be spending more time with Draco alone.

"Stop sulking at the door, Granger, and come help me finish this rotten potion," Malfoy snapped at Hermione without even turning to look at her.

She opened her mouth to snap back, but decided not to waste her breath. She marched over to Malfoy, plopped into her seat, and simply asked, "What potion?"

"Anti-Boil," Draco curtly replied.

Hermione nodded and got to work. Time passed dreadfully slow without any appearances from Slughorn. Not eating dinner suddenly seemed like the stupidest course of action Hermione could ever take in life. (Aside from drinking and driving of course, but that was a muggle thing.) The words on the list of ingredients for the potion began to blur and her ever increasing pressure headache was becoming unbearable. Hermione was pretty sure that Malfoy was beginning to notice her change in working speed, and the way her head was slowly making its way down to the table.

Once Hermione practically started snoring on the desk, Draco exclaimed, "Granger! What the hell's the matter with you? Since when does the Gryffindor know-it-all start sleeping whenever she has work to do? Is this becoming a habit?"

"What do you mean 'is this becoming a habit'? I've only fallen asleep ONE other time while working and so what if-Oh Merlin, it was you!" Hermione exclaimed while thrusting her index finger in Draco's direction, "I _knew _you were the one who added to the playlist! Now why did you do it, ferret boy? What are you hoping to get out of secretly helping me?" Hermione accused standing up and taking a step away from the sly Slytherin.

"It took the 'brightest witch of our age' this long to figure it out 'eh? We must be living in a pretty dumb age. And what kind of 'thank you' was that! Stupid muggle-born doesn't even have manners," Malfoy spat.

"That's the kind of 'thank you' that comes from a teenager who is barely surviving her perpetual amounts of homework, handling her ridiculously laborious extracurricular activities, receiving absolutely no help from her partner, constantly being verbally abused by said partner, and never has time for her friends. So forgive me for not being more grateful, you stupid prat!"

When Hermione was done, she closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and prepared herself for the snide remark that was sure to come. However, it never did come. Hermione cautiously opened her eyes, which revealed Malfoy working on their potion. _Why isn't he saying anything?_ She thought to herself.

"If you refuse to help me with this, Granger, we'll be here all night," Malfoy said (once again) without looking at her.

Hermione sighed and forced her eyes to keep focused as she wearily sat down into her chair. She wasn't sure how much longer she would make it before she totally passed out. She knew that she could no longer keep denying herself sleep and food. It was seriously starting to take a toll on her body.

Malfoy snapped Hermione out of her thoughts when he suddenly said, "You don't need to be perfect at everything, Granger. Your homework wouldn't seem so perpetual if you'd stop striving for perfection, and just try to get along for once. As for your friends, there are three levels of teenage life: Academic, Social, and Extracurricular. You can only choose two of the three if you want to excel. So get over your lack of a social life. And as for me," this he said as he stood up to go with a smirk on his face, "like I would actually help or be kind to a muggle-born like you."

With that, he left. Strangely though, Hermione didn't feel upset. She didn't even feel annoyed. She actually felt…relieved. That was the first time someone had lowered the bar for her. The first time someone told her that her best was enough, even if her best wasn't perfection. The first time she was wholly accepted.

Hermione looked back at the potion and was about to finish it up when she realized that Malfoy had already finished it. As she packed up her things and cleaned up their working area, she realized something: Malfoy hadn't called her a 'mudblood' once that day.


	7. Just One More Night

**A/N: I finally updated! It took me long enough. Thank you again to those who are still sticking with this story! ****REVIEW, PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE! **

Hermione sluggishly made her way to her dorm room with her Arithmancy textbook in hand. She had spent five hours studying in the library and was off to spend the rest of the night tying up the loose ends of the Halloween Ball. The Ball was tomorrow and she still felt that there was too much left to do. Malfoy's words about not stressing so much were stuck in her mind, but, with her, relaxing was easier said than done. Hermione had still not been eating properly and had consequently passed out the day before. Luckily though, she had been in her dorm room and she awakened before anyone questioned her absence.

'_One more night_' she thought to herself as she stumbled slightly into the hallway wall.

As she walked into the common room sleepily, she saw Thomas and Rosa chatting happily by the fireplace. Hermione couldn't believe how happy the two always were, especially when together. She watched as Thomas slowly and gingerly placed his hand on top of Rosa's. Rosa's face instantly turned a deep shade of red and she wore a bashful expression. A small, content smile spread across Thomas's face as he stared into the fire with his hand on top of hers.

Hermione's heart clenched and she felt a pressure build behind her eyes. Why did they have to be so damn cute? As she thought this, she suddenly realized the awkward position she was now in. If she made it known that she was in the common room, she would ruin the "moment" between Thomas and Rosa. But she had to finish the work for the Halloween Ball and all of her parchments were in her dorm.

As she stood debating, she was suddenly aware of a presence behind her. Hermione snapped her head around only to come face to face with none other than Draco Malfoy. Horror spread through her at the thought of Malfoy tactlessly stepping into the common room and breaking the precious moment between the Head Boy and Girl. She then did the only thing she could think to do: she put a silence charm on him.

When he realized what she had done, rage instantly filled Malfoy's eyes and his face turned dangerously red. He murderously glared at Hermione and moved with the intent to kill until Hermione vigorously shook her head and gestured towards Thomas and Rosa. As understanding set in, Malfoy's anger was gradually replaced with annoyance.

With a heavy, annoyed, inaudible sigh, Malfoy grabbed Hermione by the arm, opened the chamber door, and tossed her into the corridor. He then turned back towards the room and moved his wand as if he were performing a spell. This perplexed Hermione since he obviously couldn't _speak_ the spell in order to complete it, so what could he be doing? Unless…he already learned how to perform non-speaking spells! No, no, no, that definitely couldn't be. Non-speaking spells was _extremely_ advanced magic. How could Malfoy possibly have learned it? Of course he hadn't learned it. Duh.

Hermione started quietly laughing at herself until her jaw dropped open when she saw her parchments with all the information regarding the Halloween Ball rapidly flying towards her. She dodged it just before it hit her in the head and watched in shock as it crashed into the wall behind her. Malfoy stepped into the corridor with Hermione and shut the chamber door behind him with a dull thud.

"If you ever put a spell on me again, mudblood, I'll set your hair on fire. But I suppose that would be _helping_ you now wouldn't it…the boys would probably find you much more attractive without that bush on top of your head," Malfoy sneered.

"HOW CAN YOU TALK!" Hermione screamed at Malfoy.

Malfoy was taken aback. Shock number one was that modest Granger was screaming at him in the middle of the hallway at ten o' clock at night. Shock number two was that his insult had taken absolutely no effect on her. A smirk quickly spread across his face, however, when he realized that Hermione still hadn't learned how to perform non-speaking spells.

"Well, I don't know about muggles, but wizards are normally born with the capability to speak, Granger," he answered snidely.

"But non-speaking spells is extremely advance magic! Who would teach you at this age!" she exclaimed frantically. She feared that one of the professors had been holding out on her…

When she finished the last part of her exclamation, darkness clouded over Malfoy's eyes and his lips formed a very tight line. He abruptly turned and stiffly said, "We need to finish the preparations for the Ball. Hurry up, mudblood."

Despite her anger over his usual prejudiced comment, Hermione sympathetically stared after his retreating figure. So the rumors were true. Malfoy was partaking in the dark arts. He may already possibly be a full-fledged death eater at this point. A small part of Hermione had hoped that this wasn't true. Malfoy was just a teenager like everybody else. He didn't deserve the fate of a death eater. Nobody did.

"GRANGER!"

Hermione was snapped out of her thoughts by Malfoy's loud mouth, and she started running to catch up. There was work to be done.

o0o0o0o0o0o0o

Hermione was amazed by how much work could be done in such a small amount of time when there was more than one person helping. She'd never experienced this phenomenon before since her partners in school were always Ronald, Harry, or Lavender, none of which helped one bit with whatever task needed to be done. The Grand Hall was already covered with Halloween decorations that were creepy, but eerily beautiful at the same time.

When the clock struck midnight, Hermione was again regretting not eating dinner. Her stomach made a particularly loud grumble and she flushed furiously as Malfoy looked over in her direction. She looked around and realized that, hopefully, within half an hour, the hall would be complete.

"Eh, Granger, you want to move a little faster? I want to go to bed," Malfoy grumbled.

"Well it's not like you've helped at all before this… so why _are_ you here, Malfoy?" Hermione questioned with her hand on her hip.

"Don't worry Granger, I'm not suddenly infatuated with you," he said with a smirk, "I'm only here in case the old geezer, Dumbledore, stops by to see how the preparations are coming."

Hermione warily rolled her eyes and continued decorating.

As the clock ticked away, Hermione felt another dizzy spell coming on. She tried to remember how many hours of sleep she had gotten the night before…two? Yes, she had gotten two hours of sleep. She then tried to recall what she had had for lunch-oh wait, she had skipped lunch in order to finish a defense against the dark arts report that was due. What about breakfast…toast?

_How did I let myself get to this point?_ She thought sullenly.

Hermione held her wand towards the ceiling in order to put the last floating jack-o-lanterns in place. She couldn't help but become entranced by the starry sky reflected by the ceiling. The stars were just so calming. They made her a little dizzy…or was this sleepiness? And why did the ceiling seem darker than it did a moment before? Her head felt a little too fuzzy to think of a logical response to these questions, and she readily gave into the darkness rapidly surrounding her.


	8. Floating on Cloud Nine

**A/N: So as I read back over the previous chapters, I realized that I named the Head Girl "Alicia" initially, and then randomly switched her name to "Rosa" , so sorry if anyone noticed that, haha! It was probably only me…anyhoo, thank you for reading! AND REVIEWS ARE SOOO APPRECIATED THAT I FEEL LIKE DOING CARTWHEELS EVERYTIME I GET ONE! If that influences you at all…well, happy reading!**

The first thing Hermione saw when she opened her eyes was clouds. Two clouds, to be precise. With a hint of blue around the edges. The combination of the two colors was breathtaking. Hermione couldn't stop her heart from clenching, however, when she saw how much anguish was held in the clouds. It was if the clouds would pour out rain at any moment. Driven by instinct, Hermione reached her hand up to gently touch the clouds. The softness of the clouds rivaled that of her newborn cousin's bottom. Hermione gently smiled up at the clouds, hoping that it would provide some comfort to them.

And then reality kicked in. She wasn't staring up into the clouds; she was staring into the eyes of Draco Malfoy. And her hand wasn't resting on a cloud; it was resting on the cheek of Draco Malfoy. Shit.

In an instant Hermione was off of Malfoy and screaming, "What the hell are you doing, Malfoy!"

Malfoy looked genuinely shocked. He quickly recovered, however, and cleverly responded, "What are _you_ doing, mudblood!"

"What do you mean, 'what are you doing, mudblood'! I passed out, you stupid prat, and you took it as an opportunity to try to…" Hermione was at a loss for words. What exactly had Malfoy been doing?

Hermione looked over to where Malfoy had previously been hanging decorations. Then she looked back to where Malfoy and she were now. So did he come over to help her after she passed out? And then it clicked.

"You were trying to hex me! Or worse," at this she gasped and continued in barely a whisper, "you were trying to kill me. But I awoke before you could complete the task! Oh, my Merlin…"

Malfoy looked at her as if her were looking at a buffoon, and then said slowly, "You fell on me when you passed out, Granger. And you got your stupid mudblood genes on me in the process…" He said the last part with a look of disgust.

Hermione felt her chest well with anger and felt the all-too-familiar pressure behind her eyes. Her breathing got very heavy, and she opened her mouth to hex him but quickly shut it. What time was it? How long had she been out? The Halloween Ball was in only a few hours!

"What time is it! We need to finish! What time is it, Malfoy!" She was panicking and furiously walking around the room to see what needed to be done. _When did I put that up?_ She thought several times as she passed by decorations which certainly hadn't been in place prior to her passing out. She snapped her head over to look at Malfoy who was leaning nonchalantly against the wall and wearing an expression of pure annoyance.

"It's all done, Granger. A lot of help you were. This is the third time you've passed out. I can't wait to get this damn Ball over with," he said this while walking away. And then he was gone.

Hermione couldn't help but scream after him, "It was only TWO times, you prick!"

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

When Hermione entered her dorm room at three in morning, she had a million things on her mind. Well, maybe not _that_ many things, but it sure felt like it to her. All of the questions she had were centered on a ferret named Draco Malfoy. She couldn't get the image of his eyes out of her mind. Why were they so sad?

_Well I suppose if I were a pureblood prick with a name like 'Draco', I would be sad too. _ Hermione thought logically.

It was now 3:12. By doing simple arithmetic in her head, she concluded that she must have been unconscious for at least two hours. If she was unconscious for that long, why didn't Malfoy fetch Madame Pomfrey? Maybe he was hoping that she was dying and was simply waiting for to take her last breath. That made sense.

Then why did Malfoy have her situated so comfortably against his body? Maybe he just wanted her closer so that it would be easier to hex her. Yes, that's what he was doing. But then why didn't he have his wand out?

"ARGH!" Hermione exclaimed falling backwards onto her four-poster bed. There was too much to think about. She was mentally and physically exhausted; she didn't have the energy to logically think everything out. She needed some sleep. The Halloween Ball was tomorrow so she would need to recover some energy tonight.

As she drifted off to sleep, Hermione vaguely remembered that she hadn't bought a dress for the ball yet.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

Hermione's eyes fluttered open to reveal the time. It was six o' clock in the evening. She felt refreshed and stretched contently. But why did the news that it was six o' clock on a weekend night turn her stomach in knots? She snapped her head to look at her enchanted calendar and her jaw instantly dropped.

It was October 31st. The Halloween Ball started in an hour. She didn't even have a dress. Oh boy.

"Hermione, I heard some movement in there. Are you finally awake?" Rosa's voice came from the other said of Hermione's closed door.

Hermione ran frantically to the door, opened it with a flushed face, and practically screamed, "Rosa I need your help!"

Rosa glanced over the panicked girl before her, gave her a sympathetic smile, and said, "Of course."

Rosa then left Hermione and went to get something from her own room. When she returned, she had a small bag in her hand. It was an enchanted bag, Hermione gathered, since Rosa opened the bag and half of her arm disappeared inside it as she searched for something.

What Rosa eventually pulled out caused Hermione to gasp in amazement. It was a beautiful red gown that was embroidered with white thread. It was strapless and was fitted down to the waist. From there it elegantly cascaded out. As she got a closer look, she saw that the white thread actually formed several, tiny irises that stretched across the bodice. The design and the beauty of the gown was breath taking. Hermione could only gape at Rosa.

When Rosa realized that Hermione was at a loss for words, she explained, "Your friends, Harry Potter and two red head siblings, stopped by and talked to me. They were worried that you were overworking yourself. The red head girl-Jenny I think her name was- was especially worried that you wouldn't be ready for the ball. So, they all bought this for you."

Hermione was speechless. Her friends cared so much about her. Even though she barely spent time with them anymore, they still cared for her. Hermione was filled with so much love at the moment that she could barely breathe.

"If it doesn't fit completely, I could put an alteration spell on it," Rosa suggested sweetly.

Hermione smiled and said, "I'll go put it on."

With an alteration spell, white high heels, muggle mascara, lip gloss, and a curling iron, Hermione was ready for the dance. Hermione was filled with excitement. After all of her hard work, she was about to go see its product. Plus, it was a dance. It had been a year since Hermione went to a dance. Rosa and she linked arms as they made their way down the stairs leading to the common room.

As Hermione walked out of the common room and into the hallway, her heart was furiously thumping because she couldn't get the image of beautiful gray-blue eyes out of her mind.


	9. Music Trumps Logic

**A/N: Thank you for reading my story! I'm home sick and I'm pretty sure that reviews are a sure way to make me feel better. Also favoriting and adding this story to your story alerts may make me feel better as well.**

**DISCLAIMER: The Harry Potter series and its characters belong to J.K. Rowling and I hold no claim to them. I also hold no claims to the song "Stolen". The song and its rites belong to Dashboard Confessionals.**

When the doors to the Great Hall were opened, Hermione was pretty sure that her heart stopped. The room was filled with students of every grade level dancing, laughing, and smiling. The appearance of the room could only be described as gothic elegance. Hermione smiled when she saw that even the teachers appeared to be having a good time. Except for Snape. Snape never had a good time.

As Hermione and Rosa began making their way through the sea of teenagers, Hermione's path was blocked by an extremely flushed red-head. Ron seemed to be at a complete loss for words as he continuously took in her appearance. It didn't bother her at first since this was normal behavior for Ronald Weasley. As the awkward silence began to build, however, Hermione became frustrated.

"For Merlin's sake, say something, Ron!" Hermione exclaimed.

"Ginny was right about the dress," Ron murmured with bright red ears as he (once again) glanced over her figure.

Knowing that this was the best compliment she would extract from him all night, Hermione smiled and politely said, "Thank you."

"So, do you have a date for tonight? I tried to catch up with you all week, but you were never around. Too busy, I suppose, with all your work." Ron commented with a hint of rue.

"Yes, I was a little preoccupied with getting everything together for the ball. I hadn't even thought about a dress, let alone a date. Did you find someone to ask?" Hermione asked, inwardly hoping that he hadn't.

"Well, since-˝ Ron began, but was interrupted by a sly hand taking a hold of his shoulder.

"Why, hello there, Hermione. Don't you look," Padma paused, then finished with, "pretty."

"Hello, Padma. You look lovely as well," Hermione replied politely.

"Thank you!" Padma answered instantly giddy, "Ron picked out my dress!"

'_I'm sure he did,'_ Hermione thought with an eyebrow raised as she glanced over Padma's dress. The dress was a deep, entrancing purple that's neck line dipped dangerously low revealing a hearty eye-full of cleavage. The hem line was floor length except for where a slit ran up the thigh, nearly to the hip. The dress was so tight that Hermione suspected that the reason why Padma's face looked flushed wasn't because of dancing.

"Hermione!" was the last thing Hermione heard before she was tackled by another red-head.

"Oh my Merlin, what am I doing at Hogwarts! I should be a fashion designer! I was SO right about this dress. Hermione you look gorgeous, stunning, and all other words of beauty!" Ginny exclaimed holding the Neck Girl at arm's length.

"Ginny, thank you so much," Hermione said with such immense feeling that it brought Ginny down from her excitement high.

Ginny smiled warmly, linked her arm through Hermione's and said, "Of course."

"Hermione, you do look stunning and all other words of beauty," Harry interrupted while pulling Hermione into a hug.

"Hey, watch it Potter. You're my date," Ginny said with a venomous voice but warm eyes.

"Geez, Harry! It's about time you've asked Ginny out!" Hermione exuberantly exclaimed.

Harry turned bright red as he muttered, "I thought so too."

"Hey, Hermione, Dumbledore is motioning for us to come up front. It's time for us to welcome everyone," Rosa cut in.

Ginny hadn't heard Rosa, however, and said loudly, "_Ron_, on the other hand, hasn't come to his senses yet."

Hermione and Ron both turned a dangerously deep shade of red and Padma looked as if she would be hexing Ginny during the next slow dance.

"Ginny," Hermione quietly said in a scolding voice.

"Hey, if my brother would just wise up, I wouldn't have to do this now would I?" Ginny said nonchalantly while examining her finger nails.

"Well it's not my fault!" Ron blubbered, "She's always so busy with school work and her new duties that I never have a chance to talk to her about _anything_. And now she's in that dorm all the time with Malfoy. Merlin knows what's going to happen!"

"Are you saying that Hermione would betray us by hooking up with that dimwit?" Ginny said, fuming at her brother.

"I'm just saying that he's a teenage boy and she's an attractive teenage girl so something's _could_ happen," Ron angrily replied, clearly jealous of the situation between Malfoy and Hermione.

"How could you say something like that! Are you that insecure and _stupid_?" Ginny spat.

Hermione was at a loss for words and she couldn't deny the pain she felt in her chest. She couldn't believe that Ron had such little faith in her. She had to leave now or risk crying and losing her calm. She turned to Rosa and gave her a small smile indicating that she was ready to leave.

She smiled at everyone except for Ron and said, "I'll catch up with you guys later."

After she started walking away, she turned back and said over her shoulder, "Goodbye, Ronald," then continued walking.

As Hermione gained more distance, she couldn't help but giggle as she heard Harry say to Ron, "Damn, she used the _full_ name on you, mate."

oOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

When Hermione reached where Dumbledore, Thomas, and Malfoy were waiting, she was in a fairly gloomy state. She just wanted this night to end. Ron had a mysterious talent of ruining every dance experience she had: first the Yule Ball and now tonight.

Hermione was so entangled in her thoughts that she accidently tripped on her dress and crashed into something warm and solid. Correction: _someone_ warm and solid. When she looked up to apologize, she took a sharp intake of breath as she realized that she was looking into Draco Malfoy's eyes once again. This time, instead of holding pain, they seemed to be holding a question.

This question was verbalized when Malfoy asked with annoyance, "Are you going to stand on your own or lean on me all night?"

Hermione quickly jumped away from Malfoy and with great embarrassment murmured, "Sorry."

Malfoy took a step towards her, bent down, and whispered in her ear, "Don't fret, I know you mudbloods can't do anything on your own. I guess that includes standing. Plus, I know that I'm entirely irresistible."

Before Hermione could formulate a response, Dumbledore was already addressing the students and welcoming them to the two-hundredth annual Hogwart's Halloween Ball. The band had stopped playing and the students seemed anxious to resume dancing. Even the teachers seemed bothered by the headmaster's interruption of their previous activities.

"And now, before you continue your dancing," several sighs of frustration were heard around the room, "we will have the traditional dance between Head Girl and Head Boy. And this year, the Neck Girl and Neck Boy will be added to this tradition," Dumbledore announced with twinkling eyes.

Hermione's eyes widened so much that she worried they would burst out of her skull. Since when did she and Malfoy have to dance together? It's bad enough that they have to work together and live in the same dormitory. Now they have to make physical contact! Did she have enough hand sanitizer in her bag?

Rosa and Thomas began making their way to the dance floor. Hermione looked over to see that Malfoy look extremely peeved, but he also (reluctantly) headed towards the dance floor. Hermione took a deep breath and followed him.

The band started playing the intro to "Stolen" by Dashboard Confessional and Hermione felt her breath catch in her throat. This was her favorite song. Favorite _love_ song that is. And now the mental image of this song would be ruined by Malfoy. Why did he have to ruin everything?

As the band's singer started the first verse, Malfoy unceremoniously stuck his hand out to Hermione and mimicked the bow Thomas gave to Rosa. Malfoy then took a tentative step towards Hermione and cautiously put his hand behind the small of her back and took her left hand in his right hand. Hermione mentally noted the careful and comfortable distance Malfoy made sure to keep between them.

That distance was altered, however, when Thomas (Hermione suspected purposely) bumped into Malfoy's back. Hermione and Malfoy were now chest to chest and she worried that he could feel how furiously her heart was thumping. Wait, why was her heart thumping so loudly? This was just Malfoy, nothing to be excited about. Hermione was satisfied to feel her heart rate slow as the pace of the song slowed as well.

_"Sleep well...Sleep well…"_ the lead singer sang and Hermione couldn't stop her eyes from gently closing. By doing so her head inadvertently landed and rested on Malfoy's chest. As the song sped up once again, she was awakened from her dream-like state. Hermione gasped when she realized just how close she and Draco were

The song had reached its peak and Hermione couldn't help but be overwhelmed by the intensity of the music. Hermione snapped her head up and looked directly into Malfoy's eyes for the third time in twenty-four hours. He unwaveringly looked directly back into her hers. Hermione's heart kept beating at its normal rate and she could that his did the same. His eyes simply reflected contentment and she was certain that hers reflected the same. For the moment there wasn't Draco Malfoy and Hermione Granger. There was just music and an understanding.

An understanding of what? Hermione's logic hadn't gotten that far yet. Logic had been overtaken by music and emotion for three minutes and twenty-three seconds. When the music had ceased, Hermione wasn't even aware of it.


	10. Unanswered Questions

**A/N: Thank you for reading and sticking with this story! Sorry for being so incredibly slow with updating; school has got me busy nearly twenty-four seven. Anyway, please review! Criticism, suggestions, and praise (especially that one) are extremely appreciated. Happy reading!**

And then the music ended and Malfoy was shoving her away from him.

"Damn it, I think your mudblood germs have sunk into my skin. I thought that muggle-song was never going to end," Draco spat rather loudly while rubbing his hands on his dress robes to get the "germs" off his hands.

Hermione couldn't feel sad anymore about what Malfoy said to her. She couldn't even feel angry. All she could feel was frustrated. So she did the only thing she could think to do: she ran.

She lifted up her skirt and ran through the crowd of students and teachers. Hundreds of confused and sympathetic faces flashed before her eyes. She also saw I few haughty expressions from the Slytherin students present, but she did her best to block those from her vision.

She continued to run until she reached the safety of her common room. She then exhaustedly climbed the stairwell that led to her personal bedroom. Once she collapsed on her bed, she took a second to think about how cliché it was of her to dramatically run out of the ball. Hermione turned her head to the clock on the wall and giggled when she saw that it was 12:02 a.m. She was just like Cinderella.

She continued to giggle until the giggles turned into laughter. And she laughed until the laughter turned into gasps for air. And she gasped for air until it turned into sobs.

Hermione couldn't quite understand why in fact she was crying. Deep in her heart, however, she knew. No matter how much she tried to guard her heart from him, Malfoy had hurt her. And she was angry with herself for allowing herself to feel comfortable with him, if only for three minutes.

"Stupid girl, you knew this would happen," Hermione sadly and quietly scolded herself.

Hermione continued to lie on her bed and silently cry to herself until she heard a knock on her bedroom door. The only three people who could possibly be knocking on her door were Thomas, Rosa, and Malfoy. It obviously wasn't Malfoy or Thomas since her stairwell was enchanted to keep men from approaching her room. That only left Rosa.

"Come in, Rosa," Hermione feebly called.

She heard her door open and was too exhausted to turn and face her friend. She heard footsteps walk a few paces until they reached the edge of her bed. Not a word was spoken for about ten minutes as Hermione just continued to cry quietly.

Eventually Hermione broke the silence by saying, "It's alright, Rosa. I'm fine. You can go back down to the ball. I'm sure Thomas wants to dance with you."

"No. You need to get your sorry arse off that bed and come back down to the ball. I'm not handling the damn thing on my own."

Hermione gasped, sat up, and snapped her head around only to come face to face with a very irritated Draco Malfoy. Several questions raced through Hermione's head which made her feel slightly light headed. She decided to start with her most pressing question.

"HOW THE HELL DID YOU GET UP HERE!" she roared.

"It's a simple warding spell which isn't very difficult to remove. Even the Weasel could figure it out. You would like that, wouldn't you?" Malfoy teased with a smirk.

"His name is Ronald and what you're implying is highly inappropriate, Malfoy," Hermione replied indignantly with a flushed face.

"Whatever Your Prudence insists upon," Malfoy said with annoyance, "Now, if you would kindly get off that damn bed, I can be on my way."

"Every noun you use, Malfoy, doesn't need to be preceded by 'damn'. It just shows that you lack the vocabulary to properly express yourself," Hermione stated matter-of-factly.

"Why thank you, Ms. Know-It-All, but I frankly don't give a _damn_," Malfoy retorted.

"Clever. Anyway, I think this is the same reason why you call me a mud-˝ Hermione began before her voice caught in her throat. She quickly looked down to hide her tearing eyes and picked fiercely at a loose thread in her quilt.

"I call you a what, Granger?" Malfoy slyly prodded with a smirk.

Hermione snapped her head up, looked Malfoy square in the eyes, and asked, "Why do you call me a _mudblood_, Malfoy?"

"Because that's what you are," Malfoy answered calmly without batting an eyelash.

At this, Hermione stood up, walked over to her nightstand, and pulled at a hairpin. She then positioned it in front of her index finger and jabbed it. A single pearl of read oozed out and slowly dripped down her finger. She walked over until she was only about three paces away from Malfoy and held her finger in front of him.

"I'm pretty sure this isn't mud," Hermione stated solemnly, "So your answer doesn't suffice."

At this point, Malfoy was becoming angry and fiercely asked, "Why do you need to know why?"

"Because if a _mudblood_ is what I am, I deserve to know why I am one," she answered.

"You don't deserve anything," Malfoy spat.

"Why!" Hermione exclaimed.

"Because my blood is purer than yours!" Malfoy exasperatedly yelled back.

"That's a bunch of bullshit. You and I both know it," Hermione answered calmly.

Hermione was shocked when Malfoy didn't reply. He just continued to stare Hermione in the eye as he breathed very heavily. Hermione was worried for a moment that he would attempt to hex her, but she felt the need to be still.

He then turned away from her and said, "Hurry and get off your arse. The ball hasn't ended."

And with that, he left the room. Hermione found it interesting that he didn't slam the door behind him when he left, and that in all their bantering, he hadn't given her a solid answer as to why he called her a _mudblood_.Or maybe she was just overanalyzing again.

oOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

The rest of the ball passed by quite lightheartedly, and Hermione had to admit that she had a nice time. Harry, Ron, and Ginny threatened several times to have Malfoy killed and assured her that all of the Gryffindor guys were dying to be the ones dancing with her. Hermione once again felt very blessed to have such amazing friends.

She danced with a long line of boys, and by the end of the dance, she was almost certain that her feet were falling off her ankles. She stayed for another two hours cleaning up, however, and didn't return to her room until about 4 a.m.

Once she lay down to get several hours of well-deserved sleep, she once again couldn't get the image of blue-grey eyes out of her head.

oOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

Hermione awoke with the image of blue-grey eyes in her mind and the conversation she had had with Malfoy the night before ringing in her ears. Being the curious soul she was, she felt the need to find the answers to her question. So she decided that today was the day she would extract them. What gave Malfoy the right to assume an air of superiority around her? Oh right: nothing.

Hermione quickly dressed, dragged a comb through her hair, ran out her door and down the stairwell. She was delighted and felt a renewed sense of determination when she saw just the person she needed to talk to sitting in the common room with a Potion book cracked open. She briskly walked over to Malfoy and plopped down into the seat next to him. He looked severely irritated and his breathing substantially sped up.

"Did you think of a sufficient answer last night?" Hermione directly asked.

Malfoy looked up from his textbook, shut it, stood up, and began to walk away.

"Wait, where are you going!" Hermione exclaimed.

"To my room. Away from you," Malfoy curtly explained while walking.

He then stopped, turned back to Hermione, and added with a seductive smile, "Unless you would like to join me?"

Malfoy thought deflowering the "Gryffindor princess" would piss off Pothead and Weasel beyond belief. He would also be the hero of Slytherin (not that he wasn't already). It was a very fortuitous opportunity.

Hermione's expression immediately turned to one of perplexity as she genuinely asked, "Why would I want to do that? We can just talk here."

It was now Malfoy's expression that turned to one of perplexity as he said, "Wow, you really are a virgin aren't you?"

Hermione turned a bright shade of red as she stuttered, "O-of course I am."

Hermione was irritated when Malfoy burst into genuine laughter and asked, "But why!"

Hermione indignantly answered, "Because sex is a sacred connection-a gift. It's not something you just give to anyone."

"No, it's a method of instant self-gratification," Malfoy shot back, "And you're only saying otherwise because you're a virgin."

"That's not true! You're such a guy!" she yelled.

Malfoy laughed again and confirmed, "Yes. That I am, Granger."

"You still haven't answered my question yet, Malfoy," Hermione pointed out, desperate to get the conversation back on track.

"Yes I have," Malfoy argued.

"Not accurately, though," Hermione pointed out.

"Accuracy is a matter of perception," Malfoy said with boredom.

"That is a lie," Hermione stated.

"Maybe," and with that and a shrug of the shoulders, Malfoy disappeared up his stairwell.

Hermione was again left without answers. Without _accurate _ones at least. Two things about Malfoy's and her conversation did leave her feeling at least slightly light hearted: he hadn't called her a mudblood once and she had caused him to genuinely laugh twice in the span of fifteen minutes. Maybe she was on to something with ferret boy.


	11. Why Do You Care

**A/N: Like always, thank you very much for reading this story, please review, and I apologize for taking a ridiculously long time to update! Happy reading!**

"Merlin, Oh Mighty, my feet are _killing_ me. Padma-boo just couldn't get enough of me last night. Dancing, I mean," Ron said with a disgusting smirk on his face.

Harry shook his head, ashamed of his best mate's stupidity. Hermione could only scoff and grimace at Ron's vulgarity. Slowly, but surely, Hermione's heart was moving away from Ron. She certainly loved him, but her affection was only that of a sister for her brother. If Ron kept this ribald behavior up, however, even that affection would be in question.

"Well another Gryffindor had her share of dancing last night, too," Ginny cut in with a smile, "Hermione danced with _at least_ two-thirds of the Gryffindor gents."

Hermione blushed prettily as she mumbled a denial of such actions. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Ron's expression harden at his sister's announcement. He edged ever so slightly away from Padma (who was desperately clinging to him). Hermione found this curious, but she didn't give it much thought.

"I still hate that you had to dance with Malfoy, though," Harry said ruefully.

Hermione smiled gently and said, "It was only three minutes: no big deal."

"If it were me, I would've hexed the bastard," Ginny said, nonchalantly taking a bite of her apple.

"You're right, Gin, I should've," Hermione said, chuckling.

"It's not too late," Ginny said in a sing-song voice.

After dinner, Harry, Ginny, and Ron headed to their common room to relax before they went to bed. They invited Hermione, assuring her that she was always welcome in the Gryffindor common room, but she refused. She informed them of her Advanced Transfiguration exam in three weeks which she couldn't afford to fail. Therefore, she was going to spend her free time in the library.

Hermione started her solitary journey to the library while humming a tune. She immediately stopped, however, when she realized that she was humming the song that she and Draco had danced to the night before. Wait. Draco? Who the hell was Draco? Malfoy! Malfoy is his name!

She picked up her speed as her heart rate accelerated, while she mentally scolded herself. Hermione could see the entrance of the library, before a solid mass stepped in her path, blocking the view. Hermione mumbled an "excuse me" and attempted to step around the person. The person, however, only continued to block her way.

Hermione look up with frustration only to come face to face with Pansy Parkinson. The Slytherin had a look of pure contempt plastered on her pug-like face. Hermione snapped her head around to see if she could just go back the way she came. She could always just study in the Gryffindor common room as Harry had suggested. The Gryffindor was disheartened though when she saw Daphne Greengrass blocking her way from behind.

Hermione took a deep breath, turned back around to face Pansy, and asked, "What do you want, Parkinson?"

"Well," she began, slinking towards Hermione, "I'd really like to see you off the face of the planet, along with the rest of the stinking mudbloods, but that won't be happening for a little while. So, for now, I'd like you to keep your hands off of Malfoy."

Hermione stared at Pansy, uncomprehending what the Slytherin was saying. She then inquired, "What do you mean?"

Pansy fidgeted with annoyance then repeated, "Stay away from Draco. He's mine."

Hermione was still confused, and when Pansy saw this she quickly added, "I saw the way you danced with him."

Understanding dawned on Hermione, and with it, a physical sickening. She quickly asked, "What do you mean 'the way I danced with him'? I was forced to dance with him! That's all."

Pansy was starting to become infuriated when she retorted, "My arse you were "forced" to dance with him like _that_. It was like a frigging first dance at a wedding."

Hermione turned bright red and shouted, "It was not!"

Pansy snarled and took out her wand, "Well how bout I hex you so you make sure not to make an _accidental_ mistake like that again?"

Hermione's eyes widened as she quickly reached to grab hers. Before she could though, Daphne had said "_accio wand" _and it was gone. _Well there goes that plan,_ Hermione thought scornfully.

Pansy menacingly approached Hermione with her wand aimed at the Gryffindor's throat. Hermione opened her mouth to yell when something out of the corner of her eye made her catch her breath. None other than the boy in question stood casually at the library's entrance watching the scene unfold. His blue-grey eyes were intently on Hermione's which caused Hermione to flinch.

Hermione saw a glimmer of hope as she assumed that Malfoy would step in and stop this bullying from taking place. Her hope dwindled, however, as she watched Malfoy stay absolutely still, observing the scene. Hermione closed her eyes in frustration, and then fiercely opened them to glare at Pansy.

"Get AWAY from me!" Hermione shouted, violently kneeing the unsuspecting Slytherin in the gut. She felt a rush of excitement over her successfully attack, but was thrust backwards by a stinging slap from Daphne.

"You stupid mudblood bitch, how dare you touch a pureblood!" Daphne spat.

Hermione's eyes began to water from the slap, but she refused to let them fall. Instead, she brought her hand back to return the favor to Greengrass. She was stopped, however, by a very strong hand gripping onto her comparatively small wrist.

She frantically snapped her head around to see her third attacker only to see fierce blue-grey eyes. Hermione scoffed in disbelief, then immediately tried to wriggle out of his iron grip. As she was continuously unsuccessful, a few tears escaped her eyes.

"Ha! Good job, Drakey-pooh! You made her cry!" Pansy cried happily.

"Shut up," Malfoy coldly answered, "What the hell are you doing?"

Pansy was dumbfounded as she could only stutter in reply. She then pointed at Daphne, as she could not give a sufficient answer herself. Daphne was slightly more articulate as her only decipherable explanation was, "Damn mudblood…too close…Malfoy…"

Malfoy's expression and grip on Hermione's wrist were unchanging as he took in the sight of the two Slytherin girls. He then slowly and deliberately said, "She's mine to torment. Mine alone. Understand?"

Pansy looked as if she were about to explode as she grudgingly nodded her head. She and Daphne gave Hermione one last dirty look then left the corridor. Hermione was left with her wrist still encircled by Malfoy's hand. She again tried to wriggle out which only resulted in him tightening his grip.

"Get OFF of me, you arsehole! How dare you say I'm yours! I belong to no one, least of all the likes of you. Now, LET GO!" Hermione screeched.

Malfoy furiously snapped his head to Hermione and commanded, "Be quiet."

Hermione looked at Malfoy as if he had lost his sanity and said, "As if I'll listen to _anything_ you tell me to do! Let go!"

Malfoy exhaled exasperatedly and began dragging Hermione in the direction of their dormitory. Hermione struggled the entire way and continuously threatened to scream. She was so tired, however, that she couldn't find the energy to do so. Once they finally made it into the common room, Malfoy tossed her onto the sofa in front of the fire. He then kneeled down, grabbed her by the chin, and began to examine the cheek which had been slapped. When he took out his wand, Hermione began to panic.

"What are you doing! Stop it!" She screeched.

He ignored her and calmly lifted the wand to her cheek. He murmured a spell and Hermione instantly felt a wave of coolness wash over her cheek. She gently shut her eyes because of the sensation and felt her pain dissipating. When she opened her eyes, blue-grey eyes stared into her own.

Hermione quickly came to her senses, scooted away from Malfoy, and asked, "What are you doing? You stood by as I was attacked, you stop me from defending myself, you proclaim that I'm yours, and then you heal my wound! Just who the hell do you think you are!"

Malfoy stood up, and Hermione fleetingly felt sympathy for he look very tired as he rose up. The moment passed, however, as he looked at Hermione and answered "I don't have to explain myself to you."

"Like hell you don't!" Hermione responded, "You are an arse. I am not yours. If you ever touch me again, I'll have someone kill you or I'll personally do it myself. Understand?"

Anger finally took over Malfoy as he exclaimed, "I just saved your arse a few minutes ago and now you're calling _me_ an arse!"

"You didn't save me! You idly stood by as I was attacked, and then you butted in when I tried to help myself!"

"And that is where I saved your dumb-arse."

"Have you lost your mind?"

"If you had hit Daphne, you would have been blacklisted. Well, you're already blacklisted by being Potthead's best friend, but this would have been worse since you would have had hit a pureblood which would've given Slytherins' an excuse to attack you. I can get Pansy to keep her mouth shut, but I can't be certain about Greengrass. This could've gotten parents involved. Get it?"

Hermione understood exactly what Malfoy was saying, but she still couldn't believe how he could idly stand by as she was attacked, so she proclaimed, "That still doesn't excuse you just standing by as I was attacked."

"That would've hurt you as well. Me, Draco Malfoy, stepping in to help a mudblood? Hermione Granger nonetheless! You would've been killed in a week. Tops."

Hermione was so frustrated by the last hour's happenings that she couldn't completely respond to what Malfoy was telling her, so she simply asked, rubbing the bridge of her nose, "Why? Why do you care?"

With this he stood up, turned to leave, answered over his shoulder, "I can't have you killed before I finish tormenting you to my heart's content, now can I?"


	12. May As Well Die Trying

**A/N: Relax, read, ****REVIEW****, find a cure to world hunger, and enjoy! Oh, did I mention to please review?**

Hermione awoke from a nightmare panting with her tank top plastered to her with cold sweat. She'd dreamt that He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named and the Death Eaters had attacked Hogwarts furiously. Half of the student population was dead, and her closest friends were fighting to stay alive. As for herself, she was without a wand, recovering from a near fatal wound, and struggling to evade a persistent Death Eater.

The only thing that puzzled Hermione, however, was that she wasn't concerned for her own safety in the dream. She was only concerned for the survival of one person in particular. She felt as if her heart was being ripped from her chest as she watched him become fatally injured. She could do nothing to save him. His blood soaked her hands and torn clothes as she struggled to perform a healing spell which wasn't helping.

Hermione began crying in bed as she recalled that specific part of her nightmare. The only piece missing from her recollection, however, was who the injured man was. _It must've been Harry…or…Ron…_Hermione thought, fresh tears poring over. She continued crying for a few more seconds, and then she vigorously began to wipe away her tears.

_No use crying over something that hasn't happened,_ Hermione thought with determination. But something in her gut begged her to reconsider what she had just thought. None of the dream was true, right? Nothing….except….

"MY WAND!" Hermione screamed.

Hermione hastily threw on her robes, raced down the steps, and then ran up the steps that led to the boys' rooms. She had absolutely no idea which room was Malfoy's, but she had a fifty-fifty chance of choosing correctly. She furiously knocked on the door to her left.

"MALFOY! OPEN UP, PLEASE!" She yelled desperately.

After a few seconds, a furious Malfoy swung upon the door and roared, "Just what the hell are you doing, Granger! Have you lost your mind!"

"MY WAND! GREENGRASS STILL HAS MY WAND!" Hermione cried.

Realization spread across Malfoy's features and it soon formed into a look of boredom. He casually turned around, walked back into his room, and slammed the door in Hermione's face. Hermione stood shocked with her jaw slacked open. Anger soon took a hold of her as she went to bang on Malfoy's door again before a smiling Thomas walked out of his room.

"Is everything alright, you two? You're not having a fight, now are you?" Thomas asked sweetly.

Hermione just gaped at him and hopelessly looked back and forth between him and Malfoy's door. She pressed her lips together, stomped her foot, and then groaned out with frustration. She then fiercely began to knock on Malfoy's door again.

"Go. Away." Malfoy commanded from the other said of the closed door.

"Malfoy, come out here, you damn ferret, I need my wand back from Greengrass!" Hermione yelled back.

Hermione could hear him sigh and then ask, "What's that got do with me, you stupid girl?"

"You can get it back from her! You're in the same house!" Hermione exclaimed.

Silence filled the air as Hermione anxiously stood outside of her nemesis's door. She was disheartened when Malfoy's eventual answer was, "No, I'd rather not help a stupid muggle-born like you. Now go away before your germs spread underneath my door."

Hermione, out of frustration, struck the door once more, and sped past a bewildered Thomas. She went into the common room and plopped down on the coach closest to the fireplace and put her head in her hands. She was at a lost for what to do next.

There was no way she could just go up to Greengrass and ask that her wand be returned. But she also couldn't tell anyone that Greengrass had it. This was a matter of pride. She wouldn't be able to show her face in public for weeks if word got out that she'd been the object of a hazing act…a hazing act over Malfoy.

Malfoy. Malfoy was her only way to Greengrass. He already knew what had happened the night before, and (in his own demented way) expressed that he was on her side. So, wouldn't it make sense for him to help her get her wand back? Of course not. He's a prick.

Hermione groaned loudly. Why wouldn't that stupid bastard just butt out of her life? Everywhere she turned, there he was. He may have shown (minimal) kindness to her over the past few weeks, but when it boiled down to it, he was a pureblood arsehole. No way around it. But why wouldn't he just stop popping up everywhere she turned.

Hermione slowly lifted her head only to find blue-grey eyes staring at her. Hermione couldn't help chuckling at the irony of her situation. She plopped her head back into her hands and mumbled to Malfoy, "Please, go away."

"So now _you_ want _me_ to go away? And you must have really lost your mind if your laughing at things that clearly aren't funny," Malfoy said.

Hermione raised her head and glared at Malfoy, "You said you wouldn't help me get my wand back."

"I did." He curtly responded.

"So go away," she said.

"Whatever, Granger," he said, leaving the dormitory.

"Hermione, are you okay? You weren't in any classes today," Ginny asked with concern at dinner.

"Yeah," Hermione laughed nervously, "I just wasn't feeling well so I slept for a bit," leaning in closer she added quietly, "It's my time of the month."

Ginny nodded in sympathy and the girls continued on with their meal. Hermione quickly ate hers and kept looking at the grand clock near the hall's entrance. She had to make sure that she executed her plan on time. The plan was almost definitely going to fail, for it was incredibly rash, but executing it late would make her chances worse.

At exactly seven-thirty, Hermione stood up, announced that she was returning to her room to study, and stealthily exited the Great Hall. She headed to a crevice right beneath the main stairway and stood within its shadow. Through observation, she gathered that the Slytherins passed by this crevice after each meal in order to return to their dormitory. She'd also gathered that Greengrass and Parkinson pass the crevice well after the rest of the Slytherins, for Pansy needs enough time to completely polish off her third helping of dinner.

Right at seven-forty, the Great Hall doors opened, and a sea of Hogwarts student poured forth. The Slytherin students passed by Hermione's crevice beneath the stairwell, and headed off to their dormitories just as drones would. At exactly eight o' clock, Pansy and Greengrass slowly made their way from the Great Hall and towards the crevice, giggling like mad.

Hermione took a deep breath, thought, _Well I may as well die trying_, and stepped into Greengrass and Parkinson's path. The two girls looked shocked, and then extremely irritated to see the bushy-haired Gryffindor in their way. Pansy crossed her arms and Greengrass simply smirked.

"Give it back now," Hermione said calmly.

Greengrass and Pansy both burst into laughter. Between gasps for air, Pansy asked, "And why the hell would we do that?"

"Because," Hermione began, "if you do, I'll stay away from Malfoy."

"Ha! So you do fancy Drakey!" Pansy exclaimed.

Hermione looked at Pansy with dread, rolled her eyes, and slowly answered, "Yes."

"Gross!" Greengrass exclaimed.

_Agreed,_ Hermione thought.

Pansy began to grow angry and yelled, "Who are you to like Draco! You good-for-nothing mudblood!"

"Well," Hermione answered calmly, "you have said that all of us mudbloods are stupid, right? I guess I just don't know any better."

Greengrass's smirk returned as she said, "Wow. She finally gets it."

Hermione gritted her teeth together while keeping her poise. She took a step towards Greengrass, held out her hand, and asked, "Give me my wand back."

"You promise to keep away from him!" Pansy asked excitedly.

Hermione thought, _gladly,_ and answered, "Yes."

Pansy beamed and ordered Greengrass to "give the mudblood her wand back".

Greengrass smiled sweetly and reached into her green and silver messenger bag. She rustled around for a while until she slowly pulled out Hermione's wand. Hermione sighed in relief and took another step closer to finally receive it. She was shocked, however, when Greengrass held the wand at arm's length, dropped it on the ground, and said, "Pick it up, mudblood."

Hermione's heart dropped in her chest. She resisted the urge to slap the stupid grin off the Slytherins' faces, and calmly bent to pick up her wand. As she stood up, she thought, _I will not stoop to their level._ The two Slytherins began to laugh hysterically and slinked away to do whatever bitches do.

Hermione clutched her wand and felt her heart clench with it. She was so happy she got her wand back. She was so happy that her plan worked. She was so happy that no one found out about this.

And then the tears came. They poured out of her eyes without ceasing. She made short little gasps for air as she sniffled incessantly. No matter how hard she willed it to, her tears wouldn't stop. She was hurt too badly.

"Stop crying."

Hermione gasped as two solid arms wrapped around her small body from the back. She tried to wiggle free and say something caustic to him, but her voice only came out as sobs. She eventually gave up and leaned into him. _What the hell, I'll kick his arse tomorrow. He must have some ulterior motive, _she thought.

Feeling her lean into him, he tightened his arms around her and rested his chin on top of her head. He eventually said in a deep voice, "Only I'm allowed to make you cry. Understand?"

After a few deep breaths she managed to steadily respond, "No one makes me do anything, you damn ferret."


	13. Just Attraction

**A/N: So this chapter is very different from my other chapters because a) it's in Draco's perspective and b) it's in first person. I thought this was necessary because a) I need to give you all a better idea of what Draco's real motives are and b) it's easier to write this in first person. You know the drill: relax, read, ****REVIEW****, contemplate the meaning of the universe, and enjoy! By the way, please review. **

I hate Hermione Granger. I hate her bushy hair. I hate her intelligence. I hate her bell-like voice. I hate her musical laugh. I hate her kindness. But worse of all, I hate that I'm attracted to her.

It's ridiculous, I know. The bad arse boy falling for the perfect student: how cliché. But it's so much worse than that. I'm a frigging Death Eater. She's the Boy-Who-Lived's best friend. We're destined to spend our lives trying to destroy each another (the foundation for a beautiful relationship, right?).

Yet, I can't deny how I feel about her. I don't _love_ the stupid muggle-born. But I am "attracted" to her. Ever since my first year at Hogwarts, my eyes have always strayed to her. I always had to beat her at everything. I always had to emotionally break her apart.

And that's where I'm certain I do not _love_ her. You don't do shit like that to the people you love. So, I'm doing her a favor. I'm making her hate me, which will cause her to distance herself from me (again, a cliché). It's better this way. I would make a shitty boyfriend anyway. And I would only bring danger to her by admitting I loved her.

But I don't love her. This is just attraction. For a muggle-born, she's not a bad looking witch. The way her bouncy (which everyone else calls bushy) hair falls gracefully down her back, and frames her chestnut eyes, big white teeth, and perky nose. The way she blushes prettily when she's complimented. The way her body curves gracefully at all the right places. Like I said, she's not a bad looking chick.

But that's where it stops. I don't _love_ how she strives to do her best in everything. I don't _love_ that she gives everything she has in order to help her friends. I don't _love _how she's kind to nearly everyone she meets. I don't _love_ how she holds onto her pride, although she's been put down her entire life. I hate all of that. Because this intense emotion I feel about her certainly can't be love…right….wrong…shit.

Of course this would happen to me. Everything in my frigging life is screwed up. My whole insane family is filled with Death Eaters who would rather slit their own throats than be in Lord Wart-face's disfavor. And now I have this damn curse etched into my arm.

It scares me. I mean, of course I prefer purebloods to muggle-borns. I do not, however, _hate _them. They just…bother me. But I don't want them wiped out. Not at all.

She definitely has something to do with that. She's the living example of the normality of muggle-borns. Hell, she's the living example that muggle-borns may even surpass purebloods. But let's not get carried away.

Damn it! I want to punch a wall whenever I think about her. She screws me up. Is this what love does? No. NO! Not love. Attraction! This is just attraction.

Yet here I am in the middle of a public corridor, holding her to my chest trying to soothe her. Damn, I hate it when she cries. It's like seeing a dove cry. It makes me want to kill whoever it was that made her cry (although it's almost always me).

Fuck. Who am I kidding! I love the chick. I love the woman. I love Hermione Granger. Why!

When the hell did this happen? I've always been programmed to hate "mudbloods", so how _could_ this happen? Where were the chinks in my armor? Would a band-aid close them up?

There are so many questions. Who can answer them? Oh yeah: no one. This scares me shitless. It scares me worse than the crap the Death Eaters put me through. What if Lord Butt-face finds out about my feelings for her? He does have a connection to my mind. Shit, I have to stop calling him Butt-Face. Dammit, I did it again.

Anyway, what if he DID find out about my feelings? What if…he hurt her? My heart clenches and I feel the need to vomit just thinking about it. I won't let that happen. I'll die before I let that happen. And to ensure that he never does find out about this, I'll just keep pushing her away. She'd never love me back anyway, but I'll do this just in case she experiences temporary insanity and does fall for me.

Crap, was that butterflies I just felt? GROSS! Guys don't feel butterflies! That's what girls and girly men feel. But it would be pretty sweet if she did fall for me…ARGH! Was that heat I just felt rush up to my cheeks? Did I just blush! I can feel my testosterone leaving me…

And yet, here I am, holding her in my arms. And she's not screaming for help. She's not hexing me. She's not trying to stab me with her wand. She's just relaxing in my arms.

If only she'd stop crying. I try holding her tighter. Maybe that'll help (pressure equals comfort, right? Or is that just for babies?). She leans into my chest and sighs delicately. SCORE!

It feels so natural having her in my arms. I know I can't. It'd be stupid. No, I can't do it. Fuck it. I'm doing it.

I slowly rest my chin on top of her head. She doesn't flinch. She doesn't do anything. She just continues to cry as she was before. If only she'd stop that! Maybe I should say something.

"Only I'm allowed to make you cry. Understand?" I inform her.

Crap. I didn't mean to say that. Of course, I _meant _it, but I didn't mean to _say _it. I tense up, waiting for her to snap away from me, ending this perfect moment. It never came. Instead, her sniffling starts to slow down a bit, and she stands up a little straighter.

I can hear her take several deep breaths and eventually say with poise, "No one makes me do anything, you damn ferret."

I sigh in relief and can't stop myself from smirking. So that's how I fell in love with Hermione Granger. It's just her. Her _being_ is what I'm attracted to. What I love. I smile and hold her ever so slightly tighter.

I don't want to ever let her go. I want to forget that I'm a Death Eater. I want to forget that she's a muggle-born. I just want to have a normal high school fling with a girl I think is hot. I want to snog. I want to run my hands through her hair. I want put my hand around her waist and keep her right beside me. I want to shag. I want her.

But I know what I need to do. I can't throw away my life and take a risk just for some girl. Some infatuation. Some mudblood. There it is. I said it. It's true. No way around it. So I just need to do what I have to do.

I need to get over Hermione Granger.

**A/N: That was definitely the hardest chapter I've written for this story so far. I'm so worried that it's horrible, but I feel that it was necessary. I hope you enjoyed it (hey, how about you review to let me know how you liked/hated it! You know you wanna).**


	14. Aiding the Enemy

**A/N- So the story format has reverted back to normal (third person, Hermione POV). Also (if you haven't already noticed), occurrences in the story deviate from the course of J.K. Rowling's so please keep that in mind as you read. Thank you for reading the story as always! You know the routine: relax, develop an alternative energy source, read, REVIEW, and enjoy.**

Hermione awoke the morning after her incident with Greengrass and Pansy blushing furiously. Her confrontation with the Slytherins was enough to get her heart pumping, but what occurred afterwards set her heart racing. Had it really happened? Did Malfoy really comfort her in a public corridor? Did Malfoy seriously give himself sole permission to make her cry?

Hermione shook her head violently. No. Of course none of that happened. Malfoy would never do anything of the sort, except perhaps the last. He certainly would do that. But he didn't. Because none of the things she "remembered" had actually taken place! But why would she even dream about something like that happening…

She violently sat up in bed and threw her head into her hands and began to shake all over. What was going on? This was serious. Malfoy wasn't just any boy. He wasn't just any Slytherin. He was a Death Eater. A Death Eater who had hated her friends and she even before he became a Death Eater.

Hermione lifted her head and took a slow, deep breath. She was a smart girl. She knew what the dream meant. What it meant about how she truly felt about Malfoy. She'd always known. She'd just chosen to ignore it.

Her feelings weren't true. She didn't _love _Draco Malfoy. Hell, she didn't even like the dimwit. She was just…attracted to him. Yes, attracted was the word.

She was a romantic girl. Falling for the hot, misunderstood, bad boy was something every teenage girl has done. Falling for the hot, misunderstood, bad boy who was also a sworn enemy just made everything ten times hotter. It's something every girl has fantasized about.

But that's all it was: a fantasy. Nothing sincere about it. But just being "attracted" to him was enough to annoy the hell out of her.

She didn't _love_ how he furtively helped her out when she was falling behind on work. She didn't _love _how (in his own coarse manner) had offered her words of advice when she'd been feeling overwhelmed. She didn't _love _how he'd consistently shown up whenever she needed someone.

She especially didn't _love_ how his silky, blonde hair was gracefully swept just above his brow. She didn't _love _how is body was pure, lean muscle. She didn't _love_ how sensual his voice was. And she _especially _didn't _love_ those glittering blue-grey eyes that seemed to stare directly into her heart.

Nope, she hated all of that. Because this intense feeling she felt couldn't be anything other than hate…right…wrong…fuck.

-Hey, how about during this page break, you review! Good idea, right?-

"Wow, you look like a zombie, Hermione," Ron said, mouth full of eggs, as Hermione entered the Great Hall for breakfast.

"Gee, thanks, Ronald," she responded dismissively.

Hermione saw Ginny harshly elbow her brother in the side, then turn to her and say with concern, "What he _means_ to say is that it looks as if something were bothering you."

"Oi, I'd say, with Ron-Ron around, anyone would be bothered," Fred Weasley chimed in leaning in across Seamus.

"He's got a point, mate" George agreed, winking at his flushed younger brother.

"Will you two pipe down! You're ruining Won-Won's breakfast time," Padma said, running her fingers soothingly through Ron's hair.

"Ma'am, we two gentlemen shall immediately suppress our pipes," Fred said, saluting Padma.

Hermione, after having her share of laughter, turned to look at Harry who had been awfully quiet since she'd arrived. She felt her chest swell with pride when she saw that he was intently studying his Defense Against the Dark Arts textbook and taking notes. She leaned over closer to see which section he was reading and gasped upon closer examination of the book.

"Harry! That book is filled with writing and doodles! Why haven't you asked Professor Snape for a replacement!" she exclaimed.

"Maybe I don't want a replacement, Hermione," he mumbled, still intently reading.

"Harry Potter, you do not have to put up with this mess of a book," she announced while snatching the book away from him, "Just because you lived under the stairs of your Aunt and…"

Her words trailed off after she received a closer look of the writings in the book.

"Harry, this book is filled with dangerous spells. Some of them I'm almost positive aren't legal. Who had this book before you?" She asked fiercely.

"It doesn't say."

"Don't be silly, of course it says. Look. It says right here. It belonged to the Half-Blood…Prince…"

"I told you."

"'The Half-Blood Prince'…I wonder what it means…" Hermione trailed off.

"Truthfully, I don't care. So may I have my schoolbook back, please?"

"Harry, you really must hand this in. It's dangerous. Look here at _Sectumsepra. _That is an incredibly dangerous spell, Harry. It's nearly as bad as the killing curse, only this curse is defendable."

"Which means it truly isn't that horrible. Now, if you'll excuse me," Harry said, grabbing his textbook and resuming his previous activity.

-BREAK! REVIEW! CONTINUE!-

Weeks passed quietly for Hermione as the students made their way towards the winter holidays. She was disappointed to hear that her father had a dentistry convention in Switzerland during her break, and her mother would be visiting her gravely ill great-aunt in Scotland (in a community where no one under the age of eighteen was allowed to enter). Hermione, then, would be spending her break with her favorite red head family.

On the night before the Weasleys, Harry, and she were scheduled to depart for the Burrow, Hermione spent hours packing and chatting with Rosa about their holiday plans. Rosa would be spending her holiday at home, and would spend Christmas Eve at Thomas's house (right across the street from Rosa's). Hermione couldn't help but smile at the pretty blush that spread itself across Rosa's face at the mention of Thomas.

After Rosa said goodnight and retired to her bedroom, Hermione plopped down on the couch in the common room in front of the fireplace. Hermione was enchanted by the dance of the flames and intently watched them for what felt like hours. She wasn't aware that she had fallen asleep, but at some point during the night she was shocked to attention by the heavy smell of blood.

Hermione snapped her head up and looked around for the source, and felt her heart stop when she saw a figure hunched over the railing of the staircase leading to the boys' dormitories. The figure wasn't moving (to Hermione's knowledge), but a study stream of red ran out from under its form. Hermione began to hyperventilate before she forced herself to think logically.

The figure obviously had to be Rosa, Thomas, or Malfoy, since it had come through the password-guarded portal. It couldn't be Rosa since she had watched the Head Girl go to her room only hours before. That only left Thomas or Malfoy: two people she couldn't leave without medical aid if necessary.

Hermione slowly stood from the couch and forced herself to walk towards the boy. He flinched as her footsteps came closer, but he did not move away. She bit her lip as she saw blonde hair as she came closer to him.

"Draco," Hermione said quietly and hoarsely.

This time he did move away from her. He tried to step up the stairs, but failed. Instead he crumpled to the floor, issuing a grunt.

"Draco!" Hermione quickly knelt beside him and asked, "What's wrong? Where are you hurt?"

He didn't respond to any of her questions, and only muttered, "Damn…Potter…"

Hermione gasped and exclaimed, "Harry, did this!"

"Guess, he's not the saint you thought he was, eh?" Malfoy answered feebly with a wary smirk.

"Oh hush! You provoked him, you arsehole, don't even say otherwise. What did Harry do?"

Hermione waited for a response, and got worried when Malfoy made no attempt to do so. She then realized that the Slytherin was slipping out of consciousness. She quickly grabbed his face between her hands and ordered, "Stay. Awake. Now, what curse did Harry use?"

"…sex…sex…" he murmured, eyes closed.

Hermione immediately turned bright red and squeaked, "What!"

"Curse...some…like…sex…sepra…" he attempted to clarify.

"Oh! The curse sounds like," she blushed, "sexsepra? There are no curses like that…any legal ones, at least."

And then it clicked.

"_Sectumsepra!"_ Hermione exclaimed, causing Malfoy to jerk backwards, "Oh Merlin, I'm sorry! How could Harry use it! I told him that accursed textbook was bad news. And I don't know how to heal its effects…wait…why didn't you go to Madam Pomfrey!"

"No point," he grumbled out.

At this point Hermione's eyes began tearing at the site of so much blood and the obvious pain he was in. She cried out, "I don't know what to do!"

"That's a first," he responded.

"Shut up, you bastard, I don't have to help you," she said, furiously wiping the tears from her eyes.

"Hmm," he responded, again slipping out of consciousness.

"Wait! No, um," she paused while searching her mental archives for a healing spell.

She eventually thought of one that was said to lessen the pain of the _Cruciatus Curse, _so she figured it may help Malfoy now. She unbuttoned Malfoy's uniform shirt and pushed aside his tie. She couldn't stop herself from gagging at the site of his sliced chest. She then, after a deep, calming breath, began to perform the healing spell.

After a few moments, Hermione saw the effects of her spell. The gashes in his chest began to close up and Malfoy's breathing became less ragged. As more time passed, the gashes were almost completely gone, and Malfoy's breathing stable.

By the time Hermione completed the spell, she could hear Malfoy snoring. She sat on her knees with her hands on his chest and her head hung. Her breathing became erratic as she felt tears coming on.

She began to sob and thought_ I can't go a week without tears, can I?_ She told herself that she was crying simply because of the stress her situation put her under. She actually believed herself for a few moments. But her delusion soon faded. She knew the true cause of her tears: relief.

Relief that Draco Malfoy was still alive.


	15. Firsts

**A/N- First off, I'd like to thank Blood-blossom16 for giving me ideas for this chapter, so partial credit for this update belongs to her/him. Secondly, this chapter is going to be in Draco's point of view, but remain in third person (hmm I'm getting tricky!). Without further ado, I'd like you all to relax, think of a way to help the environment, read, REVIEW, and enjoy.**

The first thing Draco noticed as he awakened was a weight on his chest. His eyes were still closed, so he assumed the weight was simply his bedcovers. But he couldn't recall them ever feeling so heavy before. Perhaps he had caught a chill the night before, and had decided to pile on his sheets. Yes, that made sense.

But why did his bed feel so uncomfortable? He could feel a sharp edge digging into his back. He was too exhausted, however, to shift in order to become more comfortable. Had his bed always been this tough? No, it certainly hadn't been. His father had had this mattress (specially created by Norwegian wizards) flown to Hogwarts during his first year. It was ranked, by the Daily Prophet, the number one mattress of the millennium.

So why was this morning so different from all the rest? He vaguely recalled making his way into the common room the night before, and stepping onto the stairwell. Everything that may have happened afterwards was a blank in Draco's memory. But what had happened before that?

Draco's brow furrowed as he tried to remember where he had been the night before. Ah! He was in Moaning Myrtle's bathroom. Yes, that was it. But what was he doing there? He then blushed as he recalled sobbing while Myrtle tried (in her strange way) to soothe him.

Yes, he remembered now. His father had sent him a letter…a horrible letter… with instructions from the Dark Lord. Draco's heart clenched as he recalled his duty. He was to kill the Head Master.

Draco, upon reading the letter, had immediately run to Myrtle's bathroom, knowing that no sane Hogwart's student used that particular restroom. And then he let it out. He began sobbing uncontrollably for all the things in his life which he couldn't control. He was beginning to feel relieved when in walked Potthead.

The stupid Gryffindor looked shocked to find Draco in the bathroom. What really angered Draco, however, was the look of pity that took a hold of Potter's expression when he realized what the Slytherin was doing. So, naturally, the boy took a step towards the distraught Death Eater, extending a hand. And, naturally, Draco did what he does best: he snapped.

Before he realized what he was doing, Draco thrust his wand a Potter and began to cast the _Cruciatus Curse_. Potter quickly realized what was happening, and yelled a curse of his own before Draco could finish. Draco dropped to his knees in pain and clawed at his own chest. He began to feel faint at the site of his own blood. He tried to say something to Potter, but the effort to do so brought on too much pain.

Potter stuttered for a while in disbelief of what he had just done. He then managed to order Draco to remain where he was, and told him that he would go get Madam Pomfrey. Draco helplessly watched Potter frantically run out of the bathroom, unable to respond.

After a few moments, Draco realized that he would not be accepting the help of Madam Pomfrey, or anyone for that matter. Doing so would only require a full explanation of what had taken place. How could he casually say, "Well, I was sobbing like a pregnant woman when Potthead came in to save the day. Naturally, I refused his help and decided to duel him. Oh right, and I used an Unforgivable Curse to do so. No big deal,"? Right, he couldn't do that.

So he ran. Well, actually he hobbled. He hobbled all the way to his dormitory, and into the common room…where he saw her.

Despite his need of immediate medical attention, he couldn't let her see him like this. So he hobbled some more until he reached the stairway leading to his dormitory. And that's when she awoke.

Having her so concerned for him seemed like a dream. Maybe it was. He really hoped it wasn't. At the time, he was almost certain that he was going to die. But having her face as his last image before death really didn't seem so bad.

He could still remember the coolness of the tears she shed for him rolling down his bloody, bare chest. He remembered her soft hands gently holding his face. He remembered her bell-like voice ordering him to live. Well, she actually ordered him to stay awake and her hands were rather forcefully squeezing his face, but he liked his version better. And he remembered the pressure of her hands on his chest as she gave her all to heal him. Matter of fact, he could still feel that pressure now…

Draco's eyes fluttered open to reveal a bush of hair rising and falling with his breathing. The sleeping Hermione was on her knees and bent over so that her head and hands were lying on his chest. She was peacefully sleeping, but a worried expression was etched into her face.

"Granger," Draco began quietly, "wake up."

To the Slytherin's dismay, the Gryffindor continued to slumber comfortably on his bare chest. Draco took in the site of her unguarded face, and felt his heart flutter slightly. _This isn't helping my get-over-the-muggle-born plan,_ he thought sarcastically.

"Hermione," Draco tried instead.

He was shocked when the Gryffindor stirred at his words this time. She fidgeted a bit on his chest (which slightly turned him on), but didn't open her eyes. Instead, she muttered with eyes still closed, "Stay awake. Please, stay awake."

"I am, Hermione," he whispered soothingly, "Now it's your turn."

At this, Hermione's eyes shot open. She sat up and frantically looked around. She looked momentarily confused when she saw that she was in the common room, but understanding dawned on her when she saw Draco. She blushed furiously when she realized the previous position she had been in on his chest.

She scooted backwards a bit, put on an expression of annoyance, and asked, "How are you feeling?"

"Okay, I suppose. I don't know how I'll feel once your germs spread to me though," Draco responded snidely.

Hermione was instantly enraged and exclaimed, "You have some nerve!"

"So do you," he responded curtly with an even tone.

"Well, I couldn't just leave you there to bleed! Why can't you just say 'thank you' like a normal person? Why can't you just stop pretending to be something you're not?" Hermione asked, nearly screeching.

"What are you talking about? You heal my wounds and now you suddenly know all about me?" Draco shot back, becoming irritated.

Hermione shook her head and said, "You're just too inconsistent. With your actions, I mean. For example, the way you treated me the night Greengrass and Parkinson attacked me, and when you added songs to the playlist, and when you accepted my help last night. If you truly considered me to be worthless, you would completely ignore me. You would treat me as nonexistent."

"So, you think you've got me all figured out now, Granger?" Draco asked evenly, intently staring at her with an unreadable expression.

"Yes, I do."

Her response shocked Draco to the core. She was so honest, as she stared back at Draco without flinching. He couldn't think of anything to say back, and thought, _well, this is a first._ He dropped his head into his hand and began chuckling.

Hermione indignantly demanded, "What is so funny, Malfoy?"

Draco lifted his head and shrugged his soldiers nonchalantly. He ran his hand across his chest and was surprised to feel no pain. He had to admit that the girl knew her healing spells well. He then looked Hermione directly in the eyes and said, "Thank you."

Hermione was completely taken aback and began to stutter. He was amused by the look of pure perplexity that spread itself across her features. It also slightly annoyed him, so he asked, "Are you going to accept my gratitude, Granger? Or are you too good for it?"

"Of course I accept it, you twit," Hermione shot back; "I'm just…confused."

"Wow, the past few hours have been filled with firsts for you, eh?" he said, standing up.

Hermione immediately reached up towards him and said, "You shouldn't move yet! I'm not sure if my spell worked. You should probably still see Madam Pomfrey."

"No way in hell," he quickly dismissed her, and then continued, "I'm going to bed."

Before he was out of the Gryffindor's site, he turned back and said with a wink, "It was nice sleeping with you, Granger."


	16. Confrontations

**A/N: Hello there, Reader. Thank you very much for reading my story (as always)! I'm a little nervous about how this chapter turned out. I'm starting to delve deeper into the romance of Draco and Hermione, but it's pretty difficult to keep things in character and believable. Please let me know what you think of it! So, you know the drill: sit back, relax, harvest your inner ninja skills, REVIEW, and enjoy!**

Hermione's heart rate accelerated as she raced towards the Great Hall in order to confront Harry. The spell he used to hurt Drac…no, _Malfoy_…must have come from that defaced Potions textbook. There's no way Harry would knowingly use such a dangerous spell against a schoolmate, not even Draco.

She suddenly stopped in her tracks and slapped her hands on top of her head. Who was Draco? She didn't know a Draco! She knew a snob named Malfoy, but certainly not a _Draco_. So why was she suddenly calling him by his first name!

Hermione slowly brought her hands down and forced herself to think seriously and logically. The night before had definitely affected her. Seeing Draco come into their common room bleeding profusely while barely conscious had frightened her. At the time, she told herself that she was so afraid because she didn't want to witness _anyone_ die. But, in her heart, she knew she was frightened for another reason: she didn't want to see _him_ die. Before she could delve deeper into her thoughts, though, Hermione was interrupted by just the person she wanted to see.

"Hey, you alright there?" Harry asked with genuine concern in his eyes.

Hermione blinked a few times at Harry, still emerging from her deep thoughts, and then suddenly remembered why she was looking for him.

"Harry James Potter!" Hermione boomed, already becoming red in the face.

Harry's expression quickly changed to one of apprehension as he hesitantly took a few steps backwards. Students were already stopping to stare, as they had heard the Gryffindor Princess's outcry. Harry's face flushed with embarrassment as he noticed all the watchful eyes on him and his best friend.

"What is it, Hermione?" Harry hissed while completely aware of the students crowding in to hear them better.

"Sectumsempra?" she hissed back with venom in her voice.

Harry's face paled as he muttered, "But how did you know…," he then dropped his head into his hands as he realized; "You share a common room."

"You bet your arse we do!" Hermione roared.

"So he did crawl his way back to his dormitory…"

"Barely!" she screeched, "He was half-dead by the time I got to him!"

"Is he okay now?" Harry asked warily.

"Yes, but you're lucky he is! He could have died, Harry!" Hermione shot at him.

Harry hung his head in defeat and conceded, "You're right, Hermione."

Hermione straightened her posture and said authoritatively, "So you _will_ be getting rid of that damned textbook."

At this, Harry snapped his head up and said firmly, "No, I will not."

"But Harry, you've seen how dangerous it can be!" Hermione exclaimed.

"It was just one spell. You can't judge a whole book by one spell. The spells in there could prove useful, Hermione, especially against You-Know-Who. I won't be getting rid of it, and that's final," Harry said, turning on his heel to walk into the Great Hall.

Hermione stared speechless at her friend's back thinking, _for the "Chosen One", he sure is a moron…I think mankind is doomed._

-You should review. Reviews make me happy. You should review during this break.-

After her confrontation with Harry, the rest of Hermione's day continued rather uneventfully. By nine o'clock she closed her textbooks for the night and headed to her dormitory to get some rest. The next day she had an Advanced Transfiguration test that would require much of her energy (even though she had been preparing weeks in advance). She was almost to her dormitory's entrance when a small, but strong hand enclosed her wrist and yanked her backwards. She opened her mouth to scream before she realized that it was Ginny Weasley.

The red-head girl dragged Hermione through the halls of Hogwarts until they reached the entrance to the Room of Requirements. Ginny took a moment to close her eyes and think, and then looked up and opened the door. The room was a crossbreed of the Gryffindor common room and dormitories and Ginny's room at the Burrow. Quidditch posters, as well as Gryffindor flags, decorated the walls. In the back wall was a large, hearty fireplace which flickered warmly at the two girls. A large four poster, canopied bed (in traditional Gryffindor covering) sat in the center of the room.

Ginny finally let go of Hermione's wrist and walked over to the bed, plopped down on it, and indicated for Hermione to join her. Hermione was anxious to find out why her best girlfriend had decided to drag her out to the Room of Requirements after curfew. She quickly made her way to the bed and sat down neatly.

"So," Ginny said simply.

Hermione stared at Ginny expectantly, waiting for her to finish her sentence. As the seconds ticked by, she realized that the red head would not be saying anything more. Hermione cleared her throat and shifted uncomfortably in the bed.

"Why did you bring me out here, Ginny? Is there any particular reason?"

"Yes, to talk," Ginny said even toned.

When Ginny failed again to elaborate, Hermione asked with a hint of annoyance, "You brought me out here to talk about what, Ginny?"

"About you and Malfoy," she said calmly.

Hermione felt her face flush as she stared wide-eyed at her friend. Why did Ginny want to talk about _that_? There was nothing to talk about! Was there?

"I've notice that you've gotten slightly closer to him," she continued.

"No, I haven't! He's still the same arsehole he's always been. Nothing's changed." Hermione shot back defensively.

"Hermione," Ginny said with a sigh.

"Ginny, there's nothing going on. Why would you even say that! What proof do you have to go by? You know what, I'm not staying for this. This is absurd," Hermione announced, standing up.

Ginny reached her hand out and gently grabbed Hermione's hand. The touch startled Hermione, but strangely calmed her down. The frazzled Gryffindor slowly, but surely sat back down on the bed with her hand still in her best friend's.

"I've noticed for a while now. There hasn't been a monumental change, but there have certainly been small ones. For instance, you haven't been complaining about him _nearly_ as much as you used to. And I saw the way you were both dancing at the Halloween Ball. If I hadn't known either of you, I would have thought you to be a couple. Of course, the dance began very awkward, but you soon loosened up. And then there was last night when-"

"You know about last night?" Hermione asked surprised.

"Yeah, Harry came into the common room all flustered last night. Me and Ron stopped him to ask what was going on, and, after a while, he told us," Ginny explained.

"Oh," Hermione said quietly.

"Anyway, I heard you and Harry at the entrance to the Great Hall this morning, and, to me, it seemed as if you were more upset with Harry hurting Malfoy in particular, than you were with Harry using an illegal spell."

"That's not true!" Hermione exclaimed.

"Well, that's how it seemed to me."

"Ginny, we're talking about Draco. Nothing could, would, or ever will happen between us. It's impossible. Do you understand?" Hermione asked seriously.

Ginny just blinked at Hermione until Hermione, thoroughly irritated, roared, "What?"

"_Draco_?" Hermione blushed as Ginny continued, "Also, I didn't hear you mention anything about how you feel about him. You just said that you can't be with him, which is completely stupid in my opinion."

This shocked Hermione to the core, and she asked, "What do you mean? Don't you hate Malfoy?"

"Not hate. He just annoys the hell out of me. And it does piss me off when he pulls that racist shit with muggle-borns. But it's really not his fault. His parents raised him to be a dickhead, so that's what he is. He also is very, very hot. And smart. He's second in rank in our year, you know? He's right behind you."

"Yes, I know that. But…he's in league with He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, Ginny," Hermione said gravely.

Ginny's face turned solemn as she seriously mulled that comment over. After a few moments of silence she said, "Yes, that's true, which means that he needs all the help he can get."

"But what if he chose that path? What if it's what he wants?" Hermione insisted.

"You and I both know that isn't true. Like, after dinner one night, I saw him help a House Elf that had fallen down with dishes in its hands. He picked the little thing up, made sure it was alright, and then fixed the broken dishes. Of course, he then threatened the poor elf with death if it ever spoke of the incident, but that's to be expected. Anyway, a true Death Eater would never do such a thing for a "lowly" House Elf," she said matter-of-factly.

"How did he not notice you there?" Hermione asked curiously.

"I'm good at keeping myself hidden," she answered with a wink.

Hermione sighed and lay back on the bed. She closed her eyes and thought about what Ginny had said. Did she like Draco? She certainly didn't _love_ him, but was she attracted to him?

She thought back through her years of Hogwarts and remembered their countless interactions. Her heart had always raced during every confrontation. Was that because of her anger, or was it because of excitement? Could it be both? Hermione groaned and rolled over.

Ginny was right; he _was_ hot. But physical attraction wasn't enough for Hermione. What else could she possibly like about Draco?

Well, he was a bad-arse, which was always attractive for a young girl. But that wasn't all that interested Hermione. She liked that he used the harsh exterior as a cover up for how he really was on the inside. Such a cliché.

But was he really all that nice? Well, he had added to the playlist back in September, he'd given her advice when she'd been overwhelmed, and he was there for her during the Pansy-Daphne incident. Was that enough to constitute kindness? He was such an annoying bastard the rest of the time, but did she care all that much? She should. She didn't know.

"Ginny, why are you doing this to me," Hermione groaned, rolling back over and covering her eyes with her hands.

"It's a simple question, Hermione: Do you like the bastard, or don't you?"

"I shouldn't. I can't," Hermione answered.

"But _do_ you?" Ginny urged.

Hermione pressed her lips together, and then exclaimed angrily, "So what if I do? And it's just _attraction_. It would never go anywhere. Gods Ginny! Why would you even bring this up! This is ridiculous!"

"Why are you getting so upset? You wouldn't get this upset over _nothing_," Ginny said logically.

Hermione breathed deeply and said quietly, "I know."

"So, you admit that you do like him?"

Hermione was silent for a very long time. She forced herself to be honest and logical though, and she eventually answered, "Yes, I do. Of course I would. It's a classic love story: Good girl falls for bad boy mashed up with Romeo and Juliet. It's lovely," she added sarcastically.

Ginny squealed and bounced up and down on the bed as she exclaimed, "This is so exciting!"

Hermione looked over at her friend with a confused expression on her face as she said, "Exciting?"

"It's so romantic! Oh, I've got to get to work. But if he hurts you, I'm going to have to kick his arse."

Hermione stared at her friend, then shook her head and said slowly, "Ginny, you're not to do anything to try to get Draco and me together. It probably wouldn't happen anyway, but even if it were to, it'll happen on its own."

Ginny swatted her hand and said, "That's what lazy people say when they don't feel like getting anything done. Don't be one of those people," Ginny said seriously.

"Gin…"

Ginny sighed and said, "Fine! But you better not just stand idly by as one of those Slytherin sluts steal your man."

"He's not my _man_, Ginny, and I wish you would stop making such a big deal about this. It's an elementary school crush."

"What the hell's an elementary school? And this is not just a crush; it's love!" Ginny said giggling.

Hermione looked at her friend warily, stood up, and said, "Whatever, I'm going to bed."

"You kids behave yourselves in that dormitory, you hear?" Ginny said with a wink.

Hermione groaned and sluggishly walked back to her common room, having lost all of her energy.


	17. Thinking

**A/N: Hi Reader! Thanks for reading my story, and a special thank you to those readers who have been sticking with this story since the beginning. It means A LOT. Anyway, sit back, relax, spell 'lambchop' backwards three times, read, REVIEW (pretty please!), and enjoy!**

Hermione woke up on Saturday morning and spent twenty minutes staring at her ceiling in deep thought. Three days had passed since her "confessional" with Ginny, and she couldn't stop thinking about what had been said. She finally admitted that she had feelings for Draco Malfoy… this could be bad.

She sighed deeply as her brow furrowed. What was she doing? Well, she hadn't _done _anything yet, but would she? Would it be wise to do so?

This wasn't as simple as Ginny had made it seem three days ago. There was a very high possibility that Draco was a Death Eater. There was no doubt in Hermione's mind that his father was, so naturally, Draco would be one as well. Getting close to a Death Eater was certainly a horrible idea. Especially as Hermione Granger: The Chosen One's best friend. It was a horrible idea indeed.

So why was Ginny so supportive of the idea of the two of them forming a couple? As long as Hermione had known her, Ginny had been violently opposed to all things Voldemort. What was with the red-head's sudden shift in opinion?

Hermione suddenly sat up and plopped her head into her hands. This was ridiculous. How could she have been so stupid? And even worse, how could she have been so naive? Hermione Granger was _not _naïve. As the brightest witch of the age, she didn't have the _time _to be naïve.

The wizarding world was on the brink of war. Hell, the war had already begun when Harry saw Voldemort during the Triwizard Tournament. Draco Malfoy was an enemy. He was dangerous. Getting close to him would be the equivalent of committing suicide. How could she have even considered the possibility of _dating _him?

Hermione sighed deeply and felt a pressure build behind her eyes. Things were serious, life or death even. Voldemort was real and he would stop at nothing to destroy resistance. Merlin knew how long it would be before everything she knew fell apart.

_Look at yourself, Hermione! Pitying yourself, locked away in your room? You're stronger than this. You need to be stronger than this. People are depending on you, including Harry and Ron. You can't break down. Not now. _

Hermione slowly lifted her head up with a new determination in her eyes. She couldn't sit here wallowing in self-pity; she needed to keep moving. Her mental pep talk had done the trick.

She quickly took a shower, and dressed herself in a simple navy skirt that reached just above her knees and a baby blue sweater which was cinched in at the sides to flatter her figure. She then braided her hair and placed the braid delicately on her shoulder. She grabbed her books and bounded down the stairs. If she moved quickly enough, she may still make it in time for breakfast before going to library for a few hours of studying.

When she reached the bottom of the stairs, however, she froze as she saw Draco Malfoy sprawled out on the love seat in front of the fire. He looked as if he had partied hard the night before. His hair was in disarray as if eager hands had grabbed and pulled it. His school shirt was rumpled and unbuttoned until it reached mid-chest. He looked exhausted, yet his face was shockingly peaceful.

Hermione couldn't stop herself from slowly walking over to the sleeping boy and standing directly over him. She felt her heart rate pick up as she watched the gentle rising and falling of his chest. She suddenly remembered the time she had slept on said chest, and felt a warm blush spread across her cheeks. Her eyes focused on his slightly parted lips as she ever so slowly raised her hand towards them. She changed her course as her hand softly landed on his right cheek.

Hermione sucked in her breath sharply as the realization of what she had just done hit her hard. Hadn't she just convinced herself to stay away from him only a few moments ago? What if he awoke? She would never hear the end of this! How would she explain herself?

As she mentally ranted and scolded herself, Draco gently turned his head and nuzzled his face into her palm. Her breathing stopped as she watched him breathe in her scent then sigh deeply as if in contentment. Hermione bit her lip as she ever so slowly extracted her hand from underneath the slumbering Slytherin's cheek.

She let out a great sigh of relief when saw that Draco hadn't stirred. She smiled smugly to herself at her success. She then turned and made her way to the dormitory exit when she heard a hoarse voice call out, "Granger, don't forget that we have a Head's and Neck's meeting today. Don't be late!"

She snapped her head over to a fully awake Malfoy who winked seductively at her. Hermione's face turned scarlet from mortification. She couldn't find her voice to utter anything back to him, so instead, she turned and hastily exited the common room. So much for Operation Avoid the Ferret…

-It would be greatly appreciated if you reviewed my story! You should go do that now.-

"Hermione, it's common knowledge that you can't eat breakfast with your face implanted on the tabletop," Ginny said jokingly, with a hint of genuine concern.

"I sure as hell can try," Hermione grumbled.

Ron and Harry looked over at their friend worriedly for she rarely thought it necessary to use swear words. Something must be seriously wrong.

Ginny smiled nervously at the two boys then whispered to Hermione, "This wouldn't have anything to do with our little chat the other night, would it?"

"Oh, it would have everything to do with that _little chat_," Hermione grumbled again.

"What happened! Did you make a move?" Ginny whispered back excitedly.

"I made a move, all right," Hermione moaned.

"Oh! That's so exciting! Wait, did he reject you? Because if he did, I'm going to push him off his broom during the next Quidditch match," Ginny said angrily, due to her famous Weasley temper.

"No," Hermione said with a sigh, "I believe it was just the opposite actually."

"That's great!"

"NO! It isn't!" Hermione yelled rather loudly.

Ginny looked taken aback which caused Hermione to regret her outburst. She quickly grabbed the red-head's wrist, and pulled her off the bench and out of the Great Hall. She told herself to ignore Harry and Ron's looks of confusion and Ginny's questions.

Hermione and Ginny continued to walk at a brisk pace until they reached the Room of Requirements. Upon entering the room, Hermione was pleased to see that it took on the same form it had the last time the two Gryffindors were in it. The Gryffindor princess let go of her friend's wrist and promptly plopped herself onto the large four-poster bed.

Ginny gingerly sat next to her best friend and asked softly, "So, what happened?"

Hermione groaned and recounted her exchange with the Slytherin prince. Ginny listened attentively and wore a very serious expression while her friend talked. When Hermione finished her tale, Ginny sat very quietly and seemed to ponder what she had just been told.

Finally, Hermione asked quietly, "What the hell is wrong with me?"

"Well, for one thing, your hair is rather frizzy and bushy. And also, your front teeth are kind of…bigger…than the rest…" Ginny trailed off due to the glare being directed at her.

"Gin, would you please stop fucking around? This is serious!" Hermione cried.

"Why is this getting you so upset!" Ginny yelled back.

"Because I, Hermione Granger, am thoroughly attracted to Draco-frickin'-Malfoy!"

"I believe his middle name is Scorpio…"

"Ginny!"

"What! I think you really need to relax, Hermione," Ginny said matter-of-factly.

Hermione incredulously stared at her friend and then said quietly, "I can't believe how childish and stupid you're acting."

Ginny's jaw dropped at this, and then she exclaimed with a slight stutter, "C-childish!"

"Yes, childish. This isn't just some hot guy, Ginny. We're dealing with a man who is most likely a Death Eater. We are in the midst of a war, and you're advocating that I shag him. As a girl who is obviously in love with and understands Harry Potter, I thought you'd be much smarter than this."

Ginny pursed her lips and looked as if she was on the brink of tears. After a few breaths, she said harshly, "Well forgive me if wanting your best friend to be happy and to have fun is considered childish."

"There's plenty of other ways for me to accomplish that!" Hermione cried, exasperated.

Ginny stared at her friend for a long time, sighed, and then said, "You're right."

Hermione sighed in relief and tentatively smiled at her friend.

"I may act tough, and like one of the guys, but I'm still a girl. And love does interest me…a lot. I suppose I got a little obsessed with the idea of you and Malfoy together. It would be perfect, you know? Damn, I am really stupid."

"Stop it. You are not stupid. I'm sorry for saying you were earlier," Hermione had to remind herself that her best friend was still only fifteen and entirely capable of making unwise mistakes. And that was totally okay.

"Remember back in my first year when I had that…encounter with Voldemort?"

"Yes."

"Well, after Dumbledore handled the situation, the next day, Draco passed me in the hallway. He kind of stopped in the middle of the hallway traffic to look me in the eyes. I honestly thought he was going to hex me, but instead, he gave a curt nod and moved on. The funny thing is that I could have _sworn_ his eyes held an apology. So, I rant about and curse out Draco Malfoy in front of our friends, and he really does piss me off sometimes, but in the back of my mind, I remember that time.

"There's something _good_ in him, Hermione. I know I sound crazy and idealistic right now, but I felt it that time. And sometimes I see it in him nowadays, too. But all the bullshit and evil in his life covers that. And I have this gut feeling that you could be the one to help him."

"But why me?" Hermione asked softly.

"Because if there's anyone Malfoy listens to and gives the most attention to, it's you, Hermione." Ginny smirked.

"And by 'listen' and 'attention' you mean bullying, teasing, and harassment, right?" Hermione asked drily.

"He's a screwed up guy," Ginny responded with a shrug of her shoulders.

Hermione sighed deeply. She had a lot to think about. Like always.


	18. Winging It

**A/N: Hey there Reader! I can't believe this story's already on chapter 18! Thanks for reading this (like always)! Without further ado: sit back, relax, try to fit your whole fist in your mouth, read, REVIEW, and enjoy!**

Hermione hadn't spent any time after her talk with Ginny thinking about Draco. She couldn't. Whenever she did, she experienced an overwhelming amount of stress. Her heart would clench up, her face would feel suddenly very hot, and she curiously lost her ability to breathe. It must've been unhealthy for her body.

So instead of thinking about a certain platinum blonde ferret-boy, she spent the rest of her day studying vigorously in the library for a Potions exam which would be worth half of her final grade. Unlike Harry, she didn't have the aid of a graffiti-filled, cheat-booklet of a Potions textbook for this test. Too bad for her.

Hermione had been so preoccupied by her studies that she failed to realize the passage of time. By the time she decided to look at the clock, it was already seven forty-five. The Gryffindor princess gasped as she realized that her meeting with Professor Dumbledore was scheduled to begin at eight o'clock.

She hastily packed up her books and raced out of the library and towards the entrance to the Headmaster's office. Once she reached the entrance, she nearly collapsed onto the floor, completely out of breath. She sluggishly raised her arm to check the time and shakily sighed in relief when she read _7:53_.

Since she still had seven minutes until she would be allowed into the office, Hermione focused on regulating her breathing. She began to panic when she realized that doing so was no easy feat. She quickly looked up and was taken aback when she saw that her vision was slightly blurry. What was going on?

Then it dawned on her that she hadn't eaten lunch or dinner. She was so engaged in her studying, that she had failed to hear the call of her stomach. _I have got to start taking better care of myself,_ Hermione thought warily. Before she realized what was happening she slumped against the wall. _A few seconds of rest in the corridor won't be so bad. It's not like there's anyone around to see me. _She closed her eyes and allowed her mind to drift. Her rest was soon interrupted, however, by the weight of two strong hands on her shoulders.

"Granger, you all right?"

Hermione's eyes slowly focused on a pair of concerned grey eyes staring directly into her chestnut brown ones. Draco's face was shockingly solemn as he stared at her. His hands were firmly on her shoulders, but surprisingly gentle.

After a few confusing moments, Hermione harshly asked, "Why the hell do you care?"

Draco looked as if he had been struck in the face and literally took a step back. He looked Hermione square in the face with a curious mixture of confusion, hurt, and solemnity. He slowly retracted his hands from her shoulders and crossed them across his chest.

"That's a hell of a question, Granger," he responded quietly, but firmly.

Hermione stared him in the eyes, searching for a reason for his behavior. To her disappointment, his eyes revealed nothing, for his eyes seemed to be asking the same question. She slowly released a breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding as she warily pushed herself off the wall. Draco's arm instinctively went out in case she toppled over in the process. His movement only earned him another questioning gaze from her.

Her mental questioning was interrupted by the sound of heavy footsteps behind her. She quickly looked behind her to see a smiling Dumbledore, with a twinkle in his eyes, walking steadily towards them. Hermione sighed with relief when she saw the Hogwart's Headmaster. Ever since she had begun attending the wizarding school, she had felt an overwhelming sense of calm whenever the aging wizard was around her.

"Good evening, Miss Granger, Mr. Malfoy," the old man said warmly, with a gravelly voice.

"Good evening, Sir," Hermione responded with a tilt of her head.

"Evening," Draco grumbled.

"It seems that you and Mr. Malfoy have settled some of your differences," Dumbledore quietly said to Hermione with a knowing wink, causing Hermione to blush.

"N-not quite, Sir," Hermione stammered.

"Oh," Dumbledore simply said.

"Good evening!"

Hermione turned to see a grinning Thomas bounding down the hallway towards them with a content-looking Rosa following closely behind him. The Head Boy eagerly shook Dumbledore's hand and began discussing potential topics for the meeting. Rosa seemed to be radiating happiness by simply standing beside Thomas.

The Gryffindor princess slyly took the Head Boy, Head Girl, and Dumbledore's preoccupation with their conversation as an opportunity to assess Draco. She sucked in a breath of air, however, when she saw that the Slytherin was intently staring at her. His brow was furrowed in confusion, and he didn't break his gaze when Hermione stared back at him. The stare-off seemed to last an eternity, but eventually came to an end when Dumbledore announced that they should begin their meeting.

The Headmaster led the four students to the portal entrance, muttered the password, and then led them up the spiraling staircase. Dumbledore, naturally, was in front of the students while Thomas and Rosa walked side by side behind him. This arrangement left Hermione to walk directly beside Draco as they walked up the cramped stairwell.

Hermione suddenly thought back to the last time she and Draco were in this very stairwell. At that time, Draco had said some rather unkind remarks to the Gryffindor. This time, however, completely differed. The Slytherin stoically walked beside her with a completely unreadable expression.

She quickly shook her head and mentally scolded herself, thinking, _why the hell do I keep looking at him?_

_Because you want him to look back._

Hermione gasped at the small voice speaking from the recesses of her mind. That couldn't be true. It wasn't. Was it?

The Gryffindor bit her lip in frustration as the rate of her breathing accelerated. She continued to trudge up the stairs and forced herself to avoid the sight of Draco Malfoy for the rest of the walk. She sighed with relief when the group finally reached the Headmaster's office, and she hastily made her way to the wall opposite Draco.

The Headmaster promptly sat at his desk and began the meeting. The meeting was fairly standard- full of compliments, remarks, constructive criticism, and helpful suggestions. Once Dumbledore had finished talking, the four students remained silent for Dumbledore had covered every possible topic of discussion.

After a few reticent moments, Dumbledore said, "Now, I would like to speak with Mr. Malfoy and Miss Granger privately. You two are excused," he said, speaking to Rosa and Thomas.

The Head Boy and Girl politely excused themselves and swiftly left the office, leaving a stoic-looking Draco, a clearly uncomfortable Hermione, and a smiling Dumbledore. The moments that ensued were filled with a heavy silence which caused Hermione to bite her bottom lip worriedly. The Headmaster's eyes seemed to be searching the two remaining students. For what, Hermione had no idea.

"Do you have something to say, Sir?" Draco asked smoothly.

"Yes," the Headmaster answered, slowly reclining into his chair.

"And what would that be?" The Slytherin asked, with one eyebrow raised.

"Well, Mr. Malfoy, I would like to give you both my praise," Dumbledore said with a warm smile.

"If I may ask, Sir," Hermione began, "Praise for what?"

"For fulfilling your duties together without the need of an…intervention," he responded with a twinkle in his eye.

"Ah," Hermione simply said.

"I've noticed that you both have become rather comfortable around each other. At least more so than you had been previously," he continued.

At this, Draco scoffed. Hermione snapped her head over and glared at him. The Slytherin casually shrugged his shoulders and stared at Dumbledore with narrowed eyes.

"You two are the brightest wizards of your class…perhaps of the entire school. Aside from that, there is another reason as to why I chose you to perform the duties of Neck Girl and Boy."

Dumbledore's words were met by the confused expressions of the Slytherin and Gryffindor, which prompted him to continue with, "I have reason to believe that you two will be in need of each other this year…and in years to come."

Hermione blinked at the old man's words while Draco exclaimed irritably, "And what is that supposed to mean!"

"Exactly what its words imply," the Headmaster answered with a slight smirk.

"I think you've finally snapped the last strand of sanity you had if you think _I'll _need _her,_" Draco snarled.

Hermione's chest puffed with indignation as she spat, "As if I would be in need of a disgustingly pale, arrogant, cruel bigot such as you!"

She then quickly stood up, nearly knocking over her chair, turned to Dumbledore, hastily excused herself, and rushed out of the room with her head held high. In her rush to escape the awkward moment that surely would have followed her outburst, she forgot about her famished state. Soon enough, she needed to lean against a wall in order to regain some of her stability.

Suddenly, a pair of familiar hands landed on her shoulders causing her to gasp aloud. She quickly snapped around to angrily face the calm grey eyes staring at her. Neither said a word as Hermione's heavy breathing echoed in the empty Hogwarts corridor.

Finally she said as evenly as possible, "You never answered my question earlier."

"Sure I did."

"No, you simply made a comment about my question, but you failed to adequately answer it."

"Ah."

"Ah?"

"I suppose the answer to your question is: I have no fucking idea," Draco said evenly. His eyes stared solemnly into hers and his face was the epitome of stoicism.

"Well, thank you for being honest, you ugly ferret," Hermione said with a nod of her head.

"Don't mention it. Ever." He responded seriously.

After a few moments of silence, he continued smugly, "You'll need me before I need you, Granger."

At this, Hermione shocked Draco and herself by laughing aloud. She quickly stopped, however, and put her hand to her lips in shock. She then looked at Draco questioningly, as if asking him why she had laughed.

The Slytherin only smirked in reply and ran his hand through his hair with a sigh. Hermione's hand dropped from her mouth as she stared intently at the ground. Whatever was happening between Draco and her was beyond bizarre and explanation. It worried her beyond belief. She had spent too much time, however, being worried by this phenomenon. So, she decided to do something she was certain she had never done before in her lifetime.

She would wing it.


	19. Surprises

**A/N: Hi, Reader! As always, thank you very much for reading this story. I am very grateful to you! I am very pleased with how this story is progressing (regardless of how slow that progression may be…) and the response it's receiving from its audience. The only thing I would change, however, would be the number of reviews I receive! It would make me ecstatic (and possibly write faster…) to see this story's review count break one hundred. But perhaps I'm just a dreamer…haha! Well, you know the drill: sit back, relax, plant a garden in an over-populated city, read, REVIEW! (good or bad!), and enjoy!**

Three weeks had passed since the meeting with Dumbledore, and the winter holidays were quickly approaching. This slightly worried Hermione due to the fact that she did not have a place at which to spend Christmas. Her parents, both being widely acclaimed dentists, needed to attend a mandatory seminar in Switzerland which sadly overlapped with Hogwart's winter recess.

They had called her only a few nights before to break the news, which left the Gryffindor rather angry. It seemed to her as if her parents were never around to see her while she was on school breaks. Was this more than coincidence? Did they actually resent the fact that their daughter was a witch? Was that why they rarely made time to see her during the school year?

Hermione sighed as she tiredly placed her face in her hands, leaning over with her elbows on her knees. She was over-reacting. Her parents, to the contrary, were extraordinarily proud to have a daughter with magical abilities. How could she have told herself otherwise?

She then took a moment to consider where, in fact, she would be going for the winter break. The Burrow was out of the question, for Ron was far too irritating at the moment for her to consider spending a full week with him around his family (who were already planning her and Ron's wedding). The only place left was Hogwarts.

This thought saddened Hermione. She disliked the idea of spending Christmas alone, for she knew of no one who would be spending the holiday at the school as well. The Gryffindor then vigorously shook her head, forcing herself to prolong any more thoughts about the break. She decided that she would cross that bridge when she had to, and for the time being, she would focus on her classes.

She hopped out of bed and quickly dressed in her school uniform. She stood for a few moments in front of the mirror, and stared intently at her hair. She then slowly raised her wand, murmured a hair care spell she'd come across in her studies a few weeks before, and gasped lightly at the result.

Her curls fell gracefully over her shoulders and framed her face perfectly. They seemed to glimmer and bounce with every movement. Hermione smiled slightly at her reflection. She looked thoughtfully at her reflection for another moment, raised her wand, and cast another hair spell. The Gryffindor's smile grew larger as she saw familiar frizz form sparingly throughout her hair. It was perfect.

Hermione raced down the stairs with her messenger bag slung over her right shoulder. She slowed down once she reached the bottom of the stairs. She quietly approached Rosa who was sitting on the common room's loveseat, engrossed in a novel. The Gryffindor stood directly in front of the Head Girl, waiting for the eighth year to acknowledge her presence. After a few awkward moments of silence, however, Hermione finally cleared her throat politely, causing the Hufflepuff to snap her head out of her book.

She looked rather embarrassed as she hastily apologized for not having greeted Hermione earlier. Hermione waved off her apology with a smile, wished the Head Girl a good day, and left the common room. When she arrived at the Gryffindor table, an ecstatic Ginny Weasley jumped up from her seat and forcefully grabbed Hermione's small wrists.

"You'll never believe what's happened!" Ginny exclaimed, with a grin plastered across her freckled face.

"They've finally invented safety belts for those accursed broomsticks?" Hermione guessed with a shrug of her shoulder and a raised eyebrow.

Ginny looked worriedly at her friend, then suddenly laughed aloud as she said, "No, silly! Dean's going to spend Christmas with us at the Burrow!"

With everything else on Hermione's mind at the time, she had forgotten that her best girlfriend was currently in a relationship with one of the hottest boys of Gryffindor. Her relationship with Dean, however, had always confused her, since Ginny had confessed to her that she was in fact in love with Harry. Of course, that was a while ago, and she had dated Michael Corner since then, but it troubled Hermione that the redhead could so easily throw around such a strong word. To Hermione, love was a precious possession which should only be reserved for those closest to her. But maybe she was just a pathetic romantic.

Nonetheless, Hermione smiled widely, congratulated her friend, and said, "Make sure to give him my regards while he's there!"

Ginny's grin quickly dropped as she asked with a confused expression, "Why can't you tell him yourself?"

Hermione nervously pressed her lips together as she fidgeted and looked down at the ground. Ginny squeezed her friend's wrists, causing Hermione to look up and into the Weasley's questioning eyes. The Gryffindor princess took a deep breath and decided to come clean to her friend.

"I'm not going to the Burrow for the holiday this year."

Ginny's jaw dropped in pure shock, and the students closest to them who had overheard quickly snapped their heads over to the two standing girls. Ron was the first to verbally react, naturally. He quickly and sloppily shook out of Lavender's hold on him, stood up, and stared angrily at Hermione, completely red in the face.

"What the hell d'ya mean 'you're not coming to the Burrow for Christmas'!"

Hermione responded quietly, but firmly, "I believe my words were rather clear, Ronald."

Before Ron could loudly question her again, Harry smoothly cut in by standing up and asking seriously, "Why not, Hermione?"

Hermione looked him dead in the eye and answered, "I think you and I both know why I will not be coming to the Burrow for this year's holiday."

Harry then looked pleadingly and said quietly, "But you could easily avoid him while we're there."

Hermione simply shrugged her shoulders and answered, "I'd rather not."

Harry sighed in defeat and sat down with true sadness reflecting in his eyes.

Ron, still red in the face, looked back and forth between his two best friends and finally exclaimed, "Would somebody please explain what the hell is going on!"

"Oi, little hot head, sit down. You're a little too thick in the ol' noggin to understand this one," George called to his brother.

Ron snapped his head to his brother and looked as if he were about to argue with him, but the look his older brother gave him caused him to shut his mouth, and to plop down onto the bench. He then murmured, "Do whatever the hell you want."

Hermione sighed with relief, and then gave her attention back to Ginny. The redhead looked as if she would burst into tears at any moment. This took Hermione by surprise since her best friend was the toughest girl she'd ever met.

Ginny sniffled lightly and quietly said, "You could spend the entire time in my room. You won't even have to see the pig."

Hermione giggled, but then said softly, "But that wouldn't be fair."

Ginny looked as if she were seriously about to burst into tears, but, instead, she closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and sat calmly back on the bench. Hermione couldn't help but notice that Ginny ignored her brother for the rest of the week.

-Reviews are SO appreciated! Reviews are SO, SO appreciated! You should review now.-

Hermione sat at the window seat of her common room and watched snowflakes fall gracefully to the ground. The emptiness of the common room reflected the practical emptiness of the entire school. Yesterday had marked the beginning of the winter holidays.

Hermione was disheartened when she learned that none of her friends would be remaining at Hogwarts for the Christmas recess. She was even further saddened when she realized that no one she knew, even remotely, would be staying either. So, that left Hermione to enjoy the recess alone with her books.

She sighed, heaved herself up from her seat, and headed towards the dormitory exit. Her steps were halted, however, by a quiet noise behind her. The Gryffindor quickly snapped her head towards the noise, just as her brain processed that the noise had been a creak in the stairs. Her heart rate accelerated as her hands became clammy.

No one was supposed to be here. Draco, Rosa, and Thomas had left Hogwarts to spend the holidays with their families. So, what was that noise? The rational part of Hermione's brain was telling her, "Relax. The age of the stairwell causes it to creak. Mystery solved," while the irrational, louder part was telling her, "Bitch, you're gonna die."

Hermione slowly and shakily made her way towards the stairwell which led to Draco's and Thomas's rooms. As she came closer to the stairs, her heart rate steadily decreased, until she believed that she had stopped breathing all together. Hermione paused as she heard another creak from the stairwell.

Her heart dropped as she reached for the wand which wasn't in her pocket. She smacked her forehead as she remembered having left it in her room. Why would she need a wand when there wasn't anyone in the castle?

_Because there is someone in the castle: a mass murdering rapist,_ Hermione thought ruefully.

Hermione lifted her hand, ready to strike, as the creaking of the stairwell became increasingly more consistent. She bit her bottom lit as a shadow of a man spread across the bottom of the stairwell, a few inches in front of her. Hermione anxiously waited until the perfect moment to strike.

The moment came as the sight of hair caused her eyes to shut, her hand to fly, and her voice to issue a pathetic squeak of fright. Hermione's hand came down hard across her alleged assailant's smooth face. Shock froze the Gryffindor, for she found herself unable to open her eyes or retract her hand. As more time passed, fear settled in her stomach as she thought that she had perhaps killed her attacker. Hadn't Ron said in the third year that she "sure packed a punch" when she'd punched the ferret square in the face?

Hermione timidly opened one eye and braced herself to see the dead body of her assailant. Instead, a pair of live, grey eyes stared back at her. The Gryffindor gasped and brought her hand back, prepared to strike again. Her hand, however, was stopped this time by a strong grip around her wrist.

"I let you hit me once, Granger. I'll be damned if I let you do it again," Malfoy said smoothly with eyes narrowed.

Hermione's pretty eyes stared wide-eyed at Draco as she managed to eventually squeak out, "Malfoy!"

The Slytherin looked as if he were fighting back a smile as he said, "Yes, Granger. I thought we were beginning to get along well, and here you are smacking me as if I were a rapist."

"That's what I thought you were," Hermione said quietly, casting her eyes downward.

At this, Draco burst into laughter. Hermione looked up indignantly as her classmate openly laughed at her. As he slowly came down from his laughter-high, Hermione straightened her shoulders, and stared him right in the eyes.

"I had every right to think so, Malfoy," she said matter-of-factly, with her chin tilted upward.

"Eh? And why is that?" he asked, breaking into a chuckle.

"Because-Why are you here!" she exclaimed.

Draco ran a hand through his thin, platinum blonde locks as he replied, "Seems I'm stuck in the grimy castle for the holidays."

Hermione's jaw dropped as her voice issued a squeaked, "eh?"

Draco smirked, put his hand on the wall behind Hermione's head, leaned over her, and whispered while wiggling his eyebrows up and down suggestively, "Looks like it's me and you together for the holidays, eh Granger?"

Hermione smacked her forehead with her right palm and groaned. Her reaction earned a low, rumbling chuckle from the Slytherin prince. Due to her proximity to his chest, the Gryffindor princess faintly felt the vibrations of the laugh on her forehead and hand. This caused her to blush.

She quickly shook her head and thought mournfully; _twelve days together with the ferret…I wonder who will die first. _


	20. Time to Grow

**A/N- .God. It's literally been half a year since I last updated this story. I'm caught between the urge to laugh and cry out of shame… A sincere apology to those fans of this fanfic whom I've left hanging. Life just got a little busy and my writing fell to the back burner. HOWEVER I will make the biggest effort not to let that happen again. Perpetual gratitude to those of you who continue to stick with my story! Okay then, you know the drill: sit back, curse my name for having made you wait so long, relax, read, REVIEW, and enjoy!**

Sunlight streamed through the windows of Hermione's dorm, prettily illuminating her sleeping face. The increase of light caused her to flicker her eyelids and slowly open them to the sight of the morning Sun. She couldn't help but smile at the beauty of the scenery outside of her window. It was a beautiful Christmas morning.

She gracefully sat up in bed, stretched, and sighed steadily. She hopped out of bed, put on her slippers and robe, and ran down to the common room to open her presents along with everyone else. She wondered what Ron would say when he saw her present to him; it would surely make him regret choosing Lavender as his girlfriend. And she couldn't wait until Harry opened his present from her: the highest quality quidditch gloves she could afford.

Her excitement came to an abrupt halt, however, as cold realization came over. She would be spending Christmas, as well as the next seven days of winter recess, alone this year. She wouldn't be able to see the friends' reactions as they opened their presents, and they wouldn't be able to see hers. She was entirely alone.

Hermione contemplated returning to bed and opening her Christmas presents once she had the heart to do so, but she decided to get the task over with. What was the use of prolonging it? She didn't receive such excellent marks in school by procrastinating. Upon reaching the bottom of the stairs, Hermione gasped lightly as she saw a familiar batch of platinum blonde hair behind the coach. She suddenly remembered that she wasn't alone; Draco was here.

The sound of Hermione's footsteps had caught the Slytherin's attention and he quickly turned to her and asked smoothly with an eyebrow raised, "Were you going to have me waiting all day, Granger?"

"U-uh…I…" Hermione's temporarily loss of words was soon cut short by her indignation.

"What do you mean 'was I going to have you waiting all day'? I don't run on _your_ schedule, Draco!"

"Mhm," he responded distractedly as he reached underneath the Christmas tree to pull out a present. Upon reading the label, he frowned slightly and said, "It's for you."

Hermione quickly snatched it away, read that it was from Ginny, and tore open the wrapping. A beautiful forest green dress was inside. It appeared to be knee-length and the fabric was such that it seemed to flutter with every slight movement. It had a flattering sweet-heart cut with two silk straps that would tie in a bow behind her neck.

"It's gorgeous," Hermione breathed.

"What's it for?" Draco asked bluntly.

"I don't know…" she responded, fumbling for the card, "ah!" she said upon finding it.

"It says: 'I figured you could wear this tonight for Christmas dinner. You're already stunning, but in this, you'll be a heartbreaker. As you know, Ron's favorite color is green…'"

Hermione stopped and stared at the card. She had purposely remained at Hogwarts for the holidays with the sole purpose of avoiding all things Ronald Weasley. Of course the first present she opened was meant for his entertainment...lovely.

"Pfft."

Hermione snapped her head up to see Draco struggling to withhold his laughter. When he saw her angry expression, he awkwardly cleared his throat and looked intently on a painting on the wall. An unbearable silence soon descended upon them.

"Do you have something to say!" the irritated Gryffindor unexpectedly exclaimed.

"…Of course not, why would I, Granger?" Draco said with a smirk and a slight chuckle.

"You know what, why are you even here, Draco!"

"I have enough right to this castle during the holidays as you do, Granger," he responded indignantly.

"That's not what I meant. Why are you _here_, opening Christmas presents with me?" She asked exasperatedly.

"I don't have anywhere else to open 'em," Draco responded, beginning to get annoyed.

"Isn't there someone in the castle who actually _likes_ you who could open presents with you?"

"If I didn't know any better, I'd reckon that was an insult," he said sarcastically with eyes narrowed.

"Wow, I thought you were bright enough to pick up on that," Hermione shot at him.

"What the hell's your problem, Granger?" Draco roared, fully angered now.

"What is this?" exclaimed.

"What?"

"This," she said, motioning between them, "Whatever's happening between us two."

"I thought we already settled this," Draco smoothly answered.

Hermione vigorously shook her head, "No, I need to know for certain. What _are _we to each other?"

Hermione looked intently into Draco's eyes which frazzled him a bit. What _were_ they to each other? Friends? No, that wasn't quite it. Acquaintances? No, it was something more. Lovers? Definitely not.

"…Cordial co-workers," Draco finally and firmly decided on.

"Cordial…co-workers…," Hermione repeated slowly.

They both sat in silence as Hermione mulled over the label in her mind. She slowly began to nod her head as the label sat better with her. She then looked at Draco, firmly nodded, and extended her right hand.

Draco looked down at the girl's hand, obviously confused, and asked, "What's that?"

"A hand shake, obviously," Hermione said, impatiently rolling her eyes.

"What for?" Draco asked, still confused.

"We've agreed on something, and we're co-workers. It's the proper thing to do!"

Draco rolled his eyes and sighed, but firmly stuck his hand within hers. Hermione couldn't deny the sharp tingle that ran through her fingers and up through her arm. She exhaled shakily and decisively shook the Slytherin's hand. Although it was only a handshake that confirmed a very simple agreement, Hermione had the curious feeling that this handshake meant so much more than that...

**-You should review. Reviews are lovely, like the star-filled sky on a sweet summer night…-**

"Draco!" Hermione exclaimed, running down the library aisle with her arms filled with textbooks.

"You found me," Draco mumbled, not looking up.

Hermione chose to ignore his comment and instead slammed the content of her arms unto his table. She plopped into the seat across from him and sighed heavily. She picked up an especially old-looking book and began reading quietly.

Draco stared at the Gryffindor with his eyebrows furrowed for several minutes. She obviously didn't seem to notice his intent stare, so he cleared his throat in order to gain her attention. Instead of looking up from her book though, she off-handedly asked if his throat was alright.

"Why are you here!" Draco finally exclaimed.

Hermione look up from her book, giggled, and asked, "Didn't I ask you that same question two days ago?"

"Granger…"

Hermione groaned with a roll of her eyes, closed her book, and exclaimed, "I'm losing my mind!"

"I thought that happened a _while_ ago…"

"Oh shut it!" Hermione snapped, "What I mean to say is I can't stand being alone in this castle with nothing but homework to do!"

"…But isn't that what you do? I figured all you did was study," Draco said matter-of-factly.

"You're not very polite are you?" Hermione asked with a frown.

"Why the hell should I be?"

"Everyone should be polite," she said simply.

"Granger, go away."

Hermione's jaw dropped and then she asked, "I thought we were on good terms now? And you can call me by my first name, _Draco_."

Draco looked into her eyes seriously and evenly replied, "I'd rather not."

"You need to learn proper etiquette…"

"Granger, go away!"

"Hermione…"

"Hermione Granger, go away!"

"Well, it's progress…"she said with a little pout.

"You're smart. You understand the difference between co-workers and friends, right?" Draco asked sharply.

"Hey! You initiated this whole 'change-of-relationship-let's-get-along-thing'. Don't back out now," Hermione said seriously.

Draco exhaled slowly, clenched and unclenched his fists slowly, and then looked back down to his book. Hermione watched him for a few more moments, but he made no more snide remarks. She then complacently smiled and continued to read her book also.

"It'll take a while," Draco suddenly said.

Hermione looked at him seriously, and nodded. It would take time, but Hermione had another curious intuition that this relationship would certainly grow…


	21. Questions

**A/N: It feels so good to be writing again! But I have to get back into the rhythm! The last chapter kind of sucked (sorry!) but I'll keep doing my best until I get back to writing good stuff! Okay then, here's the drill (for any newcomers): sit back, relax, ponder why in fact it is impossible for humans to lick their elbows, read, ****REVIEW**** (big enough?), and enjoy!**

Hermione sat in her dormitory's common room with a myriad of books surrounding her. Her nose was currently deep within an Advanced Divination textbook. Regardless of her rigorous studying habits and her general "open-mindedness", she could not fathom the logical and necessity of the bizarre subject. Classes, however, would be resuming in four days and she figured it was about time to pick up her studying pace.

The Gryffindor princess smiled excitedly as she realized that her friends would be returning in four days as well. Upon finding out that she would be the only one of her friends who would be remaining in the castle during the winter recess, Hermione was overcome with dread. She wondered if she would even be able to survive the nine days all alone. She had, however, surprisingly survived five of those nine days already. She'd like to think that her survival was on account of her own incredible inner strength, but she conceded that her company may have had some bearing on it.

Draco Malfoy was at the moment seated across from her, sprawled out across a heavily cushioned love-seat. His head hung over the arm of the chair where it was also buried in a book. He would occasionally issue an irritated groan (probably over something he had read), and she would sporadically gasp in amazement over whatever it was she was reading. Other than the infrequent outbursts, however, the two sat in relative comfort.

Upon hearing the clock strike twelve, Hermione dramatically shut her rather large textbook and languidly stretched her arms and back. She then gathered her bouncy and frizzy locks and forced them into a tight and neat ponytail. She finally sighed and relaxed into her comfy armchair.

"That was some intense stretching, Granger. Trying to give me a show? I guess my charms finally won you over, eh?" Draco said with a smirk and a wiggle of his blonde eyebrows.

"Oh, don't be a prat!" Hermione swiftly scolded. Draco pleasantly noted how deeply she blushed at his comment.

"Finished studying, then?" Draco said politely with his nose still in his book.

"I'm never done studying," Hermione said as if it were the most obvious fact in the world (which caused Draco to quietly snicker), "I do, however, need a break," she continued matter-of-factly.

"Alright then," Draco said with a nod.

Hermione then stood up, walked towards Draco (causing him to look up suspiciously), and plopped onto the couch beside him. She then leaned forward with her chin resting in her palm and her elbow on top of her knee. Draco simply blinked at her and Hermione simply blinked back.

"Can I help you?" Draco finally drawled.

"Let's talk," Hermione said with a smile.

"Why?" Draco asked, obviously confused.

"Dear Merlin, you seriously don't get this whole friendship thing, do you?" Hermione asked incredulously.

"We're not friends!" Draco roared.

"Right, right," Hermione quickly said, waving off Draco's comment with her hand, "Anyway, I think that as fr-ahem-cordial-co-workers, we should get to know each other better," she explained.

Despite her desire throughout the years to beat Draco Malfoy to a pulp, the Slytherin prince had always intrigued the Gryffindor princess. Initially, she had simply wondered why he was such an arrogant, bigoted prat who chose to prey on her. As she grew older and became more experienced though, she began to wonder just where the boy stood in relation to the Dark Lord. Now that Draco had finally agreed to be on "good terms" with her, she planned to take full advantage of the opportune situation.

"No thanks," Draco promptly responded, returning to his book.

"Draco!" Hermione whined.

"What in Merlin's beard could you want to _talk_ about, Granger?" he groaned, dropping his head backwards in exasperation.

"Anything, really…could I ask you questions?" Hermione asked innocently with a slight shrug.

Draco narrowed his eyes and then slowly said, "I won't be answering all of them so you best be cautious of what you pry into."

Hermione instantly beamed and bounced in her seat. She then took a moment to reflect and gather her thoughts in order to comprise a good question. Merlin knew how many more chances she would get to have a person Q&A with her former arch-nemesis.

"Why do you despise mudbloods so much?" Hermione finally asked carefully.

Draco remained silent for a few moments and then answered, "It's how I was raised. You're different than us purebloods; what more is there for us to hate you?" he concluded with a shrug.

"That's a horrible doctrine," Hermione said with disdain.

"You asked. Anymore questions?"

"Yes…why are you such a prick?" Hermione asked bluntly, and then cringed at her own frankness.

Draco surprisingly said with calm, "You would be too if you were raised how I was."

"So all aspects of how you are now are because of your upbringing?" Hermione said with a hint of sarcasm.

"Pretty much," he replied with a hint of boredom in his voice.

"That's ridiculous! You're seventeen aren't you? You're practically a man now," Hermione exclaimed.

"Why thanks, Granger, I hadn't noticed."

"I have another question," Hermione pushed on stubbornly.

"Shoot," Draco encouraged dryly.

"How involved are you and your family with…the Dark Lord," Hermione asked boldly.

"What the hell, Granger!" Draco roared, sitting up sharply and knocking the book in his lap onto the floor with a loud thud.

Hermione remained silent and Draco silently fumed. They both unflinchingly stared at each other until Draco finally looked down at the floor. He then ran a hand through his hair and sighed deeply.

"Shit." He finally said.

"You could say you're not…affiliated," Hermione said quietly.

"I said to be cautious of what you pry into. You're prying to deeply," Draco answered firmly, "Next question."

Hermione shook her and said, "No, that's enough for today."

She then stood up and gathered her books. With her arms full, she headed toward the stairs. Before reaching them though, she turned back to Draco and sincerely but quickly said, "Thanks."

Draco only grunted in reply and then mumbled to himself, "I'm trying."


	22. Decisions

**A/N: Before I begin the story, I'd just like to address a topic which has been sporadically resurfacing in this story's reviews (which I absolutely love by the way *winkwinknudgenudge*). And that topic is the nature of Hermione's and Draco's romance. Please know that I do realize how fleeting, confusing, and "up and down" their romance is and I purposely created it in such a way. I feel that if this romance were to ever take place in the books/movies this would be the nature of it. Draco is such an indecisive character as it is that I think he would be even more so if a relationship with Hermione ever presented itself to him. **

**But that is totally my judgment and I respect that others feel differently. With that being said, I'll make an effort to pick up the romance a bit in this chapter ;) (It _is_ chapter 22 for Merlin's sake!) I have been planning this chapter since FOREVER and I think its about time it's taken place. Please keep reviewing because your comments, praises, and criticisms mean a lot to me and I take them all into consideration. Thanks, as always!**

* * *

Hermione listened as the clock struck midnight in her dormitory common room. She now sat on a cushioned window seat with a breath-taking view of the school's expansive property. It had snowed throughout the day, so now the entire property was covered with a thick layer of snow. She stared in amazement at the beauty of the glistening snow under the moonlight of the full moon.

She drew her legs closer to her chest as a slight draft passed over her. It was rather warm in her room earlier, so she had only worn a thin, white nightgown to bed. The heat may have accounted for why Hermione had suddenly awoken at around ten o' clock with a thin sheet of sweat covering her. Unable to fall back asleep, the Gryffindor crept downstairs to hopefully doze off in front of the fireplace. Instead, she had become entranced by the site outside the window, and there on the windowseat she had sat until now.

The house elves must have decided to turn down the furnace at some point, however, and now she was becoming rather chilled. She couldn't force herself to move though, and so she remained there, deep in thought. Her only thoughts were of Draco.

Hermione's feelings for the Slytherin were so complex that she had extreme difficulty trying to sort them out. He had always been a large aspect of her life, even if she initially hadn't wanted him to be. As a child, she could always count on the ferret to bully her. As an adolescent, he had irritated her to such an extent that she remorselessly punched him in the face in a public courtyard. As a teenager and young lady, however, she had begun to feel intrigue, indifference, and compassion- all at the same time-whenever she thought of the boy. Now that they had begun a wildly different relationship, her feelings of compassion were rising above the rest.

It wasn't just compassion though. She had always felt a certain…attraction to him. Because of this, her feelings of compassion were slowly transforming into tenderness and desire. It was sick. But it didn't make Hermione as disgusted as it once had. She was beginning to come to terms with her true feelings and she was finally certain on how she would act on them.

* * *

Draco lay in bed, staring blankly at his ceiling. A thousand thoughts raced through his head. What the hell was he thinking? What the hell was he _doing_? Did he really _like_ Granger, and just how much?

He groaned and rolled over unto his side. Of course he loved Granger. If he had learned anything over the course of the past few months, it was that he had feelings for the frizzy-haired nerd. That much was certain. The question now was how was he going to handle it? He couldn't just openly confess his love for her and then skip happily off, hand in hand, into the sunset. His father would crucify him. And the Dark Lord…he would more than likely go after her.

Draco groaned again and then swung his legs over the side of the bed. He ruffled his hair a bit and decided to go sit in front of the fireplace downstairs until he nodded off. He marched downstairs but stopped in his tracks as he neared the bottom, the sight before him temporarily leaving him without breath.

Hermione sat gracefully on the window seat of the common room with her knees bent towards her chest. She wore a flimsy white dress which draped over her slim (yet noticeably curvaceous body), while her brown locks cascaded gently over her shoulder. She stared intently out the window at the full moon which shed its light over her body. It was, perhaps, the most beautiful sight he had beheld thus far.

Draco subconsciously took a single step towards the girl causing her to snap her head towards him. Her eyes locked on his, causing him to nearly lose his breath all over again. He seized control over himself, however, and took another step towards her. Hermione did not move, but kept her eyes trained on him.

After what seemed like an eternity, Draco broke the silence and asked "Aren't you cold, just sitting there in that?"

As if a spell had been broken, Hermione suddenly gasped, looked down at the little dress she had on, and made an effort to shield it from Draco's sight. Hermione's pathetic attempt to cover herself only caused Draco to burst into laughter. He shrugged of the hoodie he had worn to bed and handed it to her.

Hermione looked at him quizzically but gingerly took the sweater from him. She turned her back to him as she pulled it on. As she turned back around, she stood up and took a few steps towards him with her arms crossed.

"What are you doing down here?" Draco asked casually, but with his eyes locked on Hermione's.

"I couldn't sleep, so I decided to come down and think for a while. Honestly, I was so entranced with my thoughts that I didn't realize that you were actually here at first," she admitted with a short tinkle of a laugh.

"So, you were thinking of me?" Draco asked bluntly.

Draco watched as Hermione's cheeks flushed red by the moonlight, causing him to gently smirk. She bit her lip in thought and hastily tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear. Draco took another tentative step towards her.

"Were you?" He asked.

"I never said I was," Hermione said firmly, keeping her eyes on his.

"And you never said you weren't."

"And if I was?"

Draco remained silent as he continued to stare into her wide, unflinching eyes. He took one more step towards her so that now they only stood a few inches apart. Hermione puffed out her chest slightly, in an effort to assert her strength. Her gesture caused Draco to chuckle.

"It would be difficult," he finally said.

"What?" Hermione asked, perplexed.

"If you were thinking about me. And if I were thinking about you. And if we let whatever this is happen. It would be…difficult," He explained.

"You're a coward," Hermione said firmly.

Hermione's words certainly took Draco by surprise and forced him to take a few steps backwards. The Gryffindor princess stood before him with her arms crossed and her eyes still focused on his. The features of her face and her posture radiated gentleness, but her eyes were firm.

"You need to make a decision, Draco. What do you want? If you can't even answer that and act on that, then what do you have to live for?" She ended her question in a whisper.

Draco remained dumbstruck for a few moments as he tried to process Hermione's question. What _did_ he want? _To please your father and the Dark Lord_, a small voice in his mind answered. But was that what he truly wanted, or was it what he had been hardwired since birth to "want". He furrowed his eyebrows as he struggled to answer a question which would be simple for anyone else to answer…but not for him.

"What do you want right now? Make a choice," Hermione prodded gently, but still firmly, "Stop thinking and act."

Draco surprisingly did exactly as he was told. He took a few brisk steps forward, gripped Hermione behind the head, and pressed his lips firmly to hers. Hermione jolted at the initially contact but soon tentatively leaned into the kiss. After a few moments, Draco pulled away and stared into Hermione's eyes as they slowly fluttered open.

"This will be difficult, Granger," Draco said.

"I've been known to handle difficult fairly well," she breathily responded with a playful smile.

"I'm serious, Hermione. Your life will be in danger," Draco said, eyebrows furrowed.

"It already is," she responded solemnly.

"Are…are you sure you want this?" Draco asked slowly.

Hermione closed her eyes and after a few moments nodded her head slowly. She then opened her eyes, causing Draco to release a breath he hadn't realized he was holding.

"I'm certain. But you can't go flaking out on me, Mr. Malfoy," Hermione said seriously.

Draco nodded solemnly and said, "All right then."

Hermione then burst into laughter (which was accompanied by a few adorable snorts). Draco was taken aback fleetingly, thinking that this whole exchange had been a joke. The light in Hermione's eyes told Draco otherwise and relief washed over him.

"What in Merlin's Beard have we gotten ourselves into!" she finally exclaimed.

Draco only chuckled in response. He had no idea what they had gotten themselves into, but he had finally made a decision. He had finally made a decision to live, and Granger was practically the only person who made him feel alive at all. He just hoped that his decision wouldn't later screw them over…


	23. Honesty

**A/N: Bahumbug, I've successfully taken FOREVER to update again. I offer my sincerest apologies and gratitude to those of you who have faithfully stuck with this story. You guys are the reason I never totally give up on this story ;) XOXO**

Hermione's eyes slowly fluttered open due to the assault of sunlight on her eyes. Upon realizing that she would likely not be falling back asleep, she decided to seize the early start to her day. She swiftly began her daily morning routine and only paused once her comb was halfway through a portion of her frizzy locks. She carefully removed the object from her hair and placed it on her vanity. After taking a deep breath, the Gryffindor sighed as she observed herself in the mirror.

She was no longer just Hermione Jean Granger, the brightest witch of her age and best friend to the Chosen One. Now she was also Hermione Jean Granger, the girlfriend of Draco Lucius Malfoy. A pleasant shudder ran through her as she thought of her new title. But how much did she really want that title? It would surely bring about _serious_ trouble. Was she equipped (or willing) to handle that challenge on top of maintaining her grade point average and saving the wizarding and muggle world from Voldemort's clutches? Maybe she should sit down…

Hermione sighed again but a small smile worked itself onto her face at the thought of the previous night. While subconsciously raising her hand to her lips, she recalled the feel of his lips against her own. He had been aggressive, but she could clearly detect his underlying tenderness. Perhaps Draco simply didn't know how to love...was she willing to teach him?

The Gryffindor continued to ponder this as she completed her morning routine and made her way out of the dormitories and to breakfast. She was slightly saddened not to have encountered Malfoy on her way, but she nonetheless plopped down next to Ginny and engaged in pleasant chatter. That was until she realized that Harry had that dreaded potions book at the table again.

"Harry," she hissed, "I thought we already discussed how I feel about that book."

"That's right Harry boy, listen to your mum now" Ron called out around the chunks of egg in his mouth.

"Oh shut it Ronald!" Hermione snapped albeit with a slight smile at the sight of his full and puffed cheeks.

Harry simply sighed and quietly muttered, "Please lay off Hermione."

Her eyes nearly bugged at the comment her friend had made. Ron and Ginny awkwardly cleared their throats and looked in opposite directions. After regaining some of her calm, Hermione gracefully rose from her seat and politely asked that Harry would join her in the hallway for a moment. The raven-haired boy groaned in reply and followed her out and into the Great Hall.

He was not prepared when she whipped around to face him and nearly growled, "Harry you know that that book is only trouble."

"Yes Hermione, you've made that rather clear," he said in an almost bored tone.

"Then why do you still have it?" she cried, exasperated.

He looked at the ground and shuffled his feet. He seemed to be considering whether or not he wanted to tell her something. When he finally lifted his gaze, Hermione met it with pleading eyes. He finally groaned and began to talk.

"I know who the half-blood prince is…" he began with furrowed eyebrows.

"Who is it?" Hermione gasped.

Harry looked at a point behind her head and quietly mumbled "Snape."

"Wow…" She replied, being at a complete loss of words.

"I know."

"But Harry, that still doesn't negate the fact that you need to get rid of that book" Hermione pressed.

"Yeah, I'm working on it 'Mione," he grumbled in response.

"Is everything alright, Harry?" she asked, suddenly very concerned by her friend's less than friendly attitude.

"Yeah, yeah…Dumbledore's just been keeping me rather busy."

"With what…" Hermione began but knew better than to continue at the sight of her friend's shaking head.

"You'll clue us in at some point, won't you?" she finally asked with faint uncertainty.

"Of course," Harry confirmed with a small smile.

After saying goodbye to her best friend, Hermione began heading towards the library in order to fit in a bit of extra studying before classes began. That is until she caught a glimpse of surreal platinum blonde hair disappearing around a corner. Curiosity and the desire to see her newly acquired boyfriend caused Hermione to swiftly run after him. Whenever she opened her mouth to call out to him, however, he would suddenly turn a sharp corner or descend a flight of stairs.

_'Where is he going in such a hurry?'_ Hermione questioned herself, struggling to keep up.

She nearly didn't believe herself when he finally stopped in the middle of a passageway. She began to say his name when she realized that he was staring rather intently at the left wall. He slowly lifted a hand to the wall and mouthed something so lowly that Hermione's ears couldn't catch it. Before she could ponder what it was he had said, a door slowly manifested itself in the wall.

_'Of course, it's the Room of Requirements_. _But what could he want from there?"_ The Gryffindor wondered as her stomach churned uncomfortably; she did not have a good feeling about this.

Once Draco had disappeared beyond the doorway, Hermione waited a few moments before following his lead. She whispered a quick spell to silence the sound of her footsteps and continued to diligently follow the blonde boy as he wound through various make-shift passages. Finally, they arrived to a rather large chest.

Hermione hid behind a coat rack which was hung with several hideous fur robes. She watched as Draco looked around him worriedly before opening the chest with slightly trembling hands. He slipped his hand into his robe and pulled out something wrapped in a napkin. He carefully unwrapped it to reveal a perfectly polished red apple. He then placed the fruit in the chest, closed its doors, and took a few steps backwards.

The Gryffindor quietly sucked in a breath as Draco's position became awfully close to hers. She believed herself to be found out when he dramatically whipped out his wand. He did not, however, point it at her, but instead at the chest. He whispered a spell and then stood dreadfully still.

After a few heartbeats, a rumbling was heard from the chest. Draco took two long strides forward and smoothly opened the chest's doors. Hermione couldn't help the gasp that escaped her when she beheld a bitten apple in place of the once perfect fruit. She instantly bit her tongue when Draco snapped his head in her direction, wand raised.

"Reveal yourself!" He barked, although his hand shook.

Before he had finished his command, however, Hermione had already begun to flee the cluttered room. She praised Merlin that he didn't seem to be pursuing her and prayed that he hadn't seen her. She quickly slipped out of the room and didn't end her sprint until she was safely in her room.

After shutting the door, the Gryffindor slowly sank to the ground with the door against her back. She couldn't process what she had just seen. Her head felt fuzzy, but that was likely the result of her heavy running and the fumes from the old robes. She raised a clammy palm to her forehead and squeezed her eyes shut.

What was he doing with that chest? Did Dumbledore authorize its creation and use? Or…did someone much darker authorize it? Was Draco truly part of Voldemort's army? Did he play a much larger role than she had initially believed? What did she believe?

Her thoughts were cut short by the sound of the dormitory's portal slamming shut. Before she could fully flesh out her thoughts, Hermione bolted out of her room and down the stairs to come face to face with a flushed Draco. His face immediately broke into a pleasant smirk upon seeing her though. He casually closed the distance between them and softly pressed his lips against hers.

"I missed you today, Granger" He murmured into her ear.

"I-I missed you, too," she stuttered in reply.

He pulled away to look at her and asked, "Everything alright?"

"Um..err…well, that is to say…" She began, staring frantically at her shoes.

Draco pinched her chin with his thumb and index finger, raised her eyes to meet his, and calmly said, "Hermione, I know this is probably rather awkward for you. It is for me at least. But we _are_ dating now…talk to me?" He ended, seeming a tad uncomfortable.

She couldn't help but giggle at his flushed face. She immediately became serious, however, as she decided that she needed to be honest with him. If this relationship was to ever work, they had to be honest with each other.

Hermione looked him straight in the eye as she simply stated, "I saw you in the Room of Requirements today."

Draco promptly paled and took a few steps backwards. He stared blankly at her for a few moments, causing Hermione to only stare back more fiercely. Eventually he cleared his throat and said, "This has nothing to do with you, Granger."

Not the reply she was expecting.

"Nothing to do with me…"

"Yes."

With heat rising to her face, Hermione loudly snapped, "And how is that, Malfoy?"

"Oi, we're back to 'Malfoy' now, eh?" He smoothly asked with a smirk.

"Wha-No! Draco, we're a couple now…right?" She finished uncertainly, searching his eyes for an answer.

He stared back at her for a moment before sighing, running a hand through his hair, and answering, "Yes."

Hermione let out a sigh of relief and then began, "Then we need to talk, Draco. We are from _completely_ different worlds. If this," she gestured between him and herself, "is to survive, then we have to talk. We have to be honest. You told me that this is what you wanted," She finished quietly.

Draco gazed blankly at the ceiling and then affirmed, "It is."

"Alright then," Hermione nodded, "So…why were you in the Room of Requirements?"

"I was given an assignment," he promptly answered.

Hermione's stomach plummeted to her stomach before she even asked, "Who?"

Draco stared her straight in the eyes while firmly answering, "The Dark Lord."

Oh dear Merlin did they need to talk…


End file.
